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Contemporary Artist Inspirational Quotes (378)

Page 4 of 16
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I think of art as coming from daily life, daily experience. I think it's very important not to have it become work for some kind of elite circle.
Ai Weiwei
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I'm not a writer, but today I think you have to be everything. As an artist you have an obligation to let people know what is on your mind and why you're doing this.
Ai Weiwei
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We move so fast that memory is something we can only grasp
Ai Weiwei
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There are no outdoor sports as graceful as throwing stones at a dictatorship.
Ai Weiwei
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It's always nice to share your energy with young people, the people who might not have any skills but are simply willing to be a part of it.
Ai Weiwei
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This world should be much more open and should be much more free, so the young people would have the chance to exercise the quality of their lives.
Ai Weiwei
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New York is a city where you're so alone, you're an individual, you can disappear. You can make something happen. But it's very different to make something happen in the art world.
Ai Weiwei
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My image of what a city should be - the super-rich and all the poor and desperate and the people who have some kind of a desire. It's a surviving game, people trying to survive on many different levels.
Ai Weiwei
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Artists are the worst [people]. They are selfish, self-centred they don't care what happens.
Ai Weiwei
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No matter what happens, nothing can prevent the historical process by which society demands freedom and democracy.
Ai Weiwei
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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. You don't have to march on Tiananmen, but you do have to be clear-minded, to find your own means of expression.
Ai Weiwei
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Whenever there is injustice, there is tension. But in China it is very hard to release your anger unless you burn yourself or you jump from a bridge. In a society where there is no freedom of the press, it is difficult for victims to be noticed.
Ai Weiwei
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This so-called contemporary art is not a form, but a philosophy of society.
Ai Weiwei
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If a society cannot even support somebody like me, then people ask: Who is under protection then? That's why there is such support for me. It is not because I am so beautiful or I am so charming. People feel: This guy is fighting for us.
Ai Weiwei
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My mother became much older when I came out (ed's note: of detention). She had problems with her hearing and high blood pressure. But they still support me.
Ai Weiwei
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The IT people who have made such an effort to know and understand computer technology. They are frustrated that you cannot use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in China. They are the first to recognize that the situation is terrible.
Ai Weiwei
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If my art has nothing to do with people's pain and sorrow, what is 'art' for?
Ai Weiwei
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The tragic reality of today is reflected in the true plight of our spiritual existence. We are spineless and cannot stand straight.
Ai Weiwei
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If there is no free speech, every single life has lived in vain
Ai Weiwei
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The people who control culture in China have no culture.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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Once you've tasted freedom, it stays in your heart and no one can take it. Then, you can be more powerful than a whole country.
Ai Weiwei
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China partially wants to become part of the world. By hosting the Olympics and the Expo, they made a big effort to tell people: Look, we are the same. They want to be accepted by the international community.
Ai Weiwei
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My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression, a new way of communication. It is never about exhibiting in museums or about hanging it on the wall.
Ai Weiwei
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