Ai Weiwei Quotes
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It became like a symbolic thing, to be “an artist.” After Duchamp, I realized that being an artist is more about a lifestyle and attitude than producing some product.
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I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial.
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Art is always about overcoming obstacles between the inner condition and the skill for expression.
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I am everywhere and I am nowhere. That's the beauty of the Internet Age.
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Art needs to stand for something.
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I'm totally independent. I don't bear any responsibility to any system.
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China has a rich history that has spanned millennia. It consists of the histories of many nations and regions.
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Mass production is nothing new. Weren't cathedrals built through mass production? The pyramids?... Paintings can be painted with the left hand, the right hand, someone else's hand, or many people's hands. The scale of production is irrelevant to its content.
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In my case, I was stuck there for quite a while. New York is large enough to be a very abstract city, so nobody cares.
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The society was so different [in China] - it was a feudalistic society. It didn't come to a point of industrial revolution until twenty years ago.
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My situation gives me certain ideas about beauty or the excitement of life, but that doesn't mean other people can necessarily appreciate it.
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I believe [the architecture firm] Herzog and de Meuron and our collaboration made the product the best it could be.
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You need a purpose to express yourself, but that expression is its own purpose.
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Once I was in New York, I completely had no interest for a long time in what happened in China because I had been through so much. Seeing my father's life struggle and so many whole generations lose their potential or possibility in their lives. Just being pushed into this political struggle and the damage done not only to their lives but their relatives.
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All movies in China are censored. Out of 600 movies produced in China, only 60 are allowed to show in theatres.
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[Cultural department] understand nothing but bureaucratic daily affairs. They don't care about culture.
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The people who control culture in China have no culture.
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Each year, more people want to become artists.
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In an environment without public platform nor protection, the individual is the most powerful and most responsible.
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Hopefully, other successes aren't like me. It carries much more meaning to other people; my success story is irrelevant. It doesn't make any sense.
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I’m an artist who is always looking for what is possible. I’m always looking to extend the boundaries.
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We move so fast that memory is something we can only grasp
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The motivation is really to say people can find the game of getting involved interesting and find the problem and really have the passion and the enthusiasm to solve it and move forward, but that's all I know.
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Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.
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The whole attitude of society has become much more open and realistic. They realize that the only way to make a more democratic and free society is to let different opinions come out.
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By participating in the society we live in, we understand our conditions and the way we relate to the world.
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This is a very general understanding of art in China, that being an artist can make you money and turn you into a star.
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Everything is selected by the central government without good judgment or an understanding of culture to make it really safe. They will become nobody to maintain their power and be raised to the next higher level.
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The media is the message. It carries the full intention and the meaning. Once you change it...it's very disturbing.
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If artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do it?
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