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Art needs to stand for something.

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
Stand
Art
Needs
Something

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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I’m an artist who is always looking for what is possible. I’m always looking to extend the boundaries.
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A lot of the time [in the U.S.], I was thinking about how spending time is always questionable or is always the biggest obstacle in my life.
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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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If I look at it, I would laugh. I don't know how I became successful.
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The American experience influenced my understanding of individuality, basic human rights, freedom of expression and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
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If there's the right condition, I always want to express the concept or ideas in a very independent way.
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Without freedom of speech, there is no modern world, just a barbaric one.
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By participating in the society we live in, we understand our conditions and the way we relate to the world.
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Individual that means he has his own special way to communicate, which creates the form of him. In the information age, this expression and communication has become so different.
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After I came back [to China], there was still a long period of time when I felt I had nothing to do.
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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.
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If we all say the same thing, then I think the government has to listen. But because no one is saying it, I become singled out, even though what I'm saying is common sense. It's very essential values that we all have to protect. But in Chinese society, people are giving up on protecting these values.
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[Shanghai Biennale] has been my attitude for as long as I've been practicing art and other cultural-related activities.
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Just look at the statistics: Each university has tens of thousands of applications for students who want to be in art school, but they can only accept a few hundred.
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So-called Chinese art and culture is under control of the Party. They exist to serve the official agenda. I call it fake art and culture.
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My musician friends are banned from playing concerts in China because they share the same views as I do. My name cannot appear on the web, because my opinion is different from the Party.
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Today, the general masses in this society are in this political-social condition that really encourages people to become rich and become a star and be unique.
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I never saw [Allen Ginsberg] as some kind of crazy figure.
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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.
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The purpose of art is the fight for freedom.
Ai Weiwei