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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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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
Existence
Spiritual
True
Spineless
Reality
Plight
Cannot
Reflected
Today
Tragic
Straight
Stand

More quotes by 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.
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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.
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I spend a lot of time talking to journalists.
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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.
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A nation like China has become one of the biggest production fields for exporting cheap labor, which also re-questions our history and past, re-questions human desire, and the human illusions of the past.
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Once you've tasted freedom, it stays in your heart...
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I was an illegal alien for many, many years. I couldn't move. If I moved I could not even get a visa back.
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The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.
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I think we cannot have a double standard. We cannot see our art as different from the reality. We cannot use two different sets of judgment.
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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.
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As a total activity - I practice curating, art, architecture, writing, and publishing all together. I still act as a living creature.
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Expressing oneself is like a drug. I'm so addicted to it.
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What is important is that we actively express our thoughts and wishes, in every realm that we can access.
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To survive, China had to open up to the West. It could not survive otherwise. This was after many millions have died of hunger in a country that was like North Korea is today. Once we became part of global competition, we had to agree to some rules. It's painful, but we had to. Otherwise there was no way to survive.
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Chinese citizens have never had the right to really express their opinions in the constitution it says you can, but in the real world it is more dangerous. In the west people think it's a right they're born with. Here it's a right given by the government, and one that's not really practised.
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I don't believe in the so-called Olympic spirit. I speak from personal experience. When China hosted the Games, it failed to include the people. The event was constructed without regard for their joy.
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I think art certainly is the vehicle for us to develop any new ideas, to be creative, to extend our imagination, to change the current conditions.
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Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.
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Even if there have been setbacks during these past years, China is changing. China's society is opening.
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The world is not changing if you don’t shoulder the burden of responsibility.
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