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This so-called contemporary art is not a form, but a philosophy of society.

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
Contemporary
Philosophy
Called
Society
Art
Form

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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Overturning police cars is a super-intense workout. It’s probably the only sport I enjoy.
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The freedom of speech is an important yardstick for a society's level of civilization.
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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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People have a tendency to become elite rather than to care about the general conditions of the society, which makes me sick. It's an unbearable condition.
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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.
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Maybe being powerful means to be fragile.
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We grew up in a very material-lacking socialist society, but today China is a capitalist society. It's very materialistic. It's full of desire and luxury goods.
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China didn't want to lose the cutting edge of technology. So the idea of having a Sina Weibo was an attempt to compete with Twitter. However, it has no soul - which is freedom of expression. Nevertheless, I think the government regrets having Sina Weibo, but they cannot shut it down. That would definitely be suicidal.
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Behind every political deal in this country, the first casualties are always the ordinary people, who are barely treated as human.
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...photographs are facts, but not necessarily true... The present always surpasses the past, and the future will not care about today.
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Even if I have hundreds of things to do, the disconnected feeling is still there because it is very hard to find a real purpose of life.
Ai Weiwei
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The museums used to be exhibition halls for government propaganda, and now every city wants to build a museum. A few thousand are to be built in the next few years, all using taxpayer money. But there is no system, no research, no content, no good programs, no good managers.
Ai Weiwei
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Today, we jump into this globalization of the economy and the internet age.
Ai Weiwei
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The [China] government has improved in the last years. Of course, the structure is still the same there's still a one-party system and strong censorship.
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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.
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I remember one little rainy day I went searching for this apartment and I saw so many people standing on a stoop on the corner in the rain. Later I realized, that was drug traffic. They were all buying drugs.
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
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I will never leave China, unless I am forced to. Because China is mine. I will not leave something that belongs to me in the hands of people I do not trust.
Ai Weiwei
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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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Anyone fighting for freedom does not want to totally lose their freedom.
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