Quote

A city is a place that can offer maximum freedom. Otherwise it’s incomplete.

Ai Weiwei

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Ai Weiwei
Age: 67
Born: 1957
Born: May 18
Architect
Consultant
Contemporary Artist
Designer
Film Director
Human Rights Activist
Painter
Photographer
Sculptor
Social Activist
Peking
Wei-wei Ai
Weiwei Ai
Ai Wei Wei
City
Cities
Freedom
Place
Incomplete
Maximum
Offer
Otherwise
Offers

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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I grew up in a desert, which has no kind of imagination.
Ai Weiwei
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Self-censorship is insulting to the self. Timidity is a hopeless way forward.
Ai Weiwei
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When I first got into the first-year study after the Cultural Revolution, got into the same school with this group, I wasn't conscious of the so-called Fifth Generation. I didn't like that kind of study condition because there's no real, true education there.
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In a society that restricts individual freedoms and violates human rights, anything that calls itself creative or independent is a pretence. It is impossible for a totalitarian society to create anything with passion and imagination.
Ai Weiwei
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My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression. I don’t think anybody can separate art from politics. The intention to separate [the two] is itself a very political intention.
Ai Weiwei
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I have always stated I designed the stadium as a toilet seat. I don't care if this is a great cultural event or a national symbol. It has nothing to do with me. It deals with the city.
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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I'm always interested in people who are not orientated in art circles to become part of it.
Ai Weiwei
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You only have temporary curiosity, amusement, and challenges, but that does not necessarily mean you are really convinced that it's necessary or that it's not even worth to do it. It's just a way you have to set up some kind of activities to follow your instincts or your curiosities.
Ai Weiwei
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A society is healthy only when it allows its members to discuss their thoughts openly. This is also the only way that a society can gather consensus, let everyone express his or her wish, and foster creativity.
Ai Weiwei
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Society becomes very destructive.
Ai Weiwei
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I don't like China. Even today, I still feel I have no emotional relations with this place.
Ai Weiwei
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I'm a free man now, except I cannot leave China. You know, I have no desire to travel. I have so many things to do I cannot finish them now.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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My angst and my insecurity reflect the state's angst and insecurity. The state is scared too.
Ai Weiwei
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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
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I also have to speak out for people around me who are afraid, who think it is not worth it or who have totally given up hope. So I want to set an example: you can do it and this is OK, to speak out.
Ai Weiwei
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Had I to create a name for these times, I’d say it is the age of craziness
Ai Weiwei
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My childhood was quite extreme. Sometimes I was so weak I could not stand up. But now I am so strong. Life is unpredictable
Ai Weiwei
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It's always the rich and there's plenty to waste, yet still China has a lot of people living in very spare, poor conditions.
Ai Weiwei