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Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.

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
Separate
Art
Never
Life

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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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.
Ai Weiwei
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Even though everybody who looked at me would call me a Chinese artist, that's the 1980s. New York in the '80s was not so interesting. I think it's quite narrow-minded. There wasn't much encouragement or opportunities for any artist - not just Chinese artists.
Ai Weiwei
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Many people I know - writers, poets - they have all been sentenced not once but sometimes three times after they come out. They serve five or six years, come out another time, and then nine years. Come out again, 12 years. Only because they have a different opinion. They are innocent people, they have beautiful minds, beautiful hearts.
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Warhol influenced me because of his writing. If I had never read his writings and interviews, I would never have understood his work.
Ai Weiwei
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[Shanghai Biennale] has been my attitude for as long as I've been practicing art and other cultural-related activities.
Ai Weiwei
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If I really have nothing to do, I just watch my cats, take some photos, and go back to my personal blog.
Ai Weiwei
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As a human being, member of society, you must clearly state your mind. It's a responsibility. It is the way you identify yourself otherwise you don't know who you are and why you are here.
Ai Weiwei
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Being an artist is more of a mindset, a way of seeing things it is no longer so much about producing something.
Ai Weiwei
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[Cultural departments] don't care about culture. Maybe they're the furthest from the people who understand culture.
Ai Weiwei
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I don't think China should care if this crazy old guy should have a show here or not. You have so many museums in the West, and so many shows, you need somebody to show the work, otherwise it's empty.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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In the '80s, you couldn't walk in the neighborhood without looking back to see if anyone was following you. You had your key in your hand before you got to your apartment and you'd rush in so you didn't have to stop.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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My typical day is I wake up and appreciate that I can still wake up.
Ai Weiwei
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I hope that my work expresses my worldview and encourages people to exchange ideas.
Ai Weiwei
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The purpose of art is the fight for freedom.
Ai Weiwei
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I grew up in a desert, which has no kind of imagination.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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China hasn't only existed for one day. Now, the whole nation has become richer and it's become a problem. The problem is universal. The factor is big. Everybody has to rethink the balance of the world and the whole landscape.
Ai Weiwei
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I believe [the architecture firm] Herzog and de Meuron and our collaboration made the product the best it could be.
Ai Weiwei