black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

Of course, there [in China] has to be chaos. It has to be crazy, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong about it except this government, which is really incapable of doing anything meaningful.

Ai Weiwei

The purpose of art is the fight for freedom.
AI WEIWEI

Art Fight Fighting Purpose
Politics is like air and water. And you know if there is bad politics. Everyone is polluted. Everyone is unhealthy. See the people walking on the street: how they act.
AI WEIWEI

Air Bad Everyone People Politics Polluted Unhealthy Water
Maybe [success] is because I’m in China and I’m more open. Maybe it’s my independent behavior, or because I participated in certain projects. I have no idea.
AI WEIWEI

Behavior Certain Country Idea Independent More Open Participate Project
They lack any ability to sense what is beautiful or what is proper. They can be learned and skillful, but they lack the ability to make their own free judgment. It is really sad to see young adults of 20, 25 years who were never taught to make their own decisions.
AI WEIWEI

Ability Adult Beautiful Decision Judgement Lack Learned Proper Skillful Taught Young
For artists and intellectuals today, what is most needed is to be clear about social responsibility, because that is what most people automatically give up. Just to protect yourself as an individual is very political.
AI WEIWEI

Artist Giving Up Intellectual Mean Needed Responsibility Social
Maybe being powerful means to be fragile.
AI WEIWEI

Fragile Mean Powerful Recovery
If my art has nothing to do with people’s pain and sorrow, what is ‘art’ for?
AI WEIWEI

Art Nothing Pain People Sorrow
I don’t think I was very structured in that society and I don’t really believe in personal success, which most Americans believe in.
AI WEIWEI

Believe Country Personal Structured Success Thinking
I call on people to be ‘obsessed citizens,’ forever questioning and asking for accountability. That’s the only chance we have today of a healthy and happy life.
AI WEIWEI

Accountability Citizen Forever Happy Life Obsessed People Questioning
They very often just try to cope with their own election, their own popularity, solving the problem or selling the ideas to meet their own voters. By doing that, it creates a great imbalance in terms of making deals or treaty or all those things.
AI WEIWEI

Border Cope Create Deal Election Idea Imbalance Making Meet Political Popularity Selling Solving Voter
I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.
AI WEIWEI

Emotion Emotional Man More Old Physical Poetry Problem Together
We should use this public sphere and redefine – beyond China’s borders – what a government is allowed to do, where its powers end and where the realm of a citizen’s privacy begins.
AI WEIWEI

Allowed Border Country Government Public Redefine Sphere
We never really see the global situation as a total situation. Today’s political leaders are still lacking of the vision.
AI WEIWEI

Lacking Leader Moving Political Sititaion Today Vision
For me, it is OK as long as I can breathe, as long as my heart is pumping, as long as I can express myself.
AI WEIWEI

Breathe Express Heart Long Myself Pumping
Selling high or low doesn’t mean anything. It has to do purely with the market.
AI WEIWEI

Anything High Market Mean Purely Selling
I always want people to be confused, to be shocked or realize something later.
AI WEIWEI

Confuse Confused Later People Realize Something Want

Of course, there [in China] has to be chaos. It has to be crazy, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong about it except this government, which is really incapable of doing anything meaningful.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

Of course, there [in China] has to be chaos. It has to be crazy, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong about it except this government, which is really incapable of doing anything meaningful.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Ai Weiwei Quotes