Quote

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.

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
Case
Cases
Land
Windowsill
Freedom
Constrain
Take
Totalitarianism
Imprisoned
Misconception
Flight

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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We have to give our opinion, we have to say something, or we are a part of it. As an artist I am forced to say something.
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The United States is a melting pot. Like John F. Kennedy said, it's a nation of immigrants. But Donald Trump wants to build a fence that clearly makes the statement: You and I are divided. We're different, and you're dangerous. That kind of thinking stops human, civilized evolution. It's dangerous to create that kind of tension.
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Art needs to stand for something.
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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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[Being unique] gives so much privilege to people who can make it, rather than having some moral and aesthetic discussions.
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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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If my art has nothing to do with people's pain and sorrow, what is 'art' for?
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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.
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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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There are no outdoor sports as graceful as throwing stones at a dictatorship.
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A historical property has morals and ethics of the society that created it and it can be revived. What I mean is that we can discover new possibilities from the process of dismantling, transforming, and recreating.
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To the media, I have become a symbolic figure, critical of China. According to the government, I am a dangerous threat.
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All the rich people collect traditional Chinese art. So it's very natural for Chinese families to still see art as the highest human performance and send their children to this field.
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You're still being looked at as somebody who - it's a very complicated issue.
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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.
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Everything is art. Everything is politics.
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I suddenly realized I was getting ten opening notes a day on my mobile phone, more than when I was in New York. But this is China, where nothing is surprising.
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Our lives are bound by physical limits, familial ties, political conditions, and geographical restrictions. Individual freedom takes us beyond them all.
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Because Chinese art is booming, it legitimizes this profession.
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Once you've tasted freedom, it stays in your heart...
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