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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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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
Interviews
Understood
Read
Writing
Work
Never
Warhol
Would
Writings
Influenced

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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Somehow, we [ Tan Dun and director Chen Kaige] were all privileged at the time we could be outside of China. But at the moment, we had no sense of what the future was going to be like.
Ai Weiwei
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If artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do it?
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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[Museums] all belongs to the cultural department, which is the biggest cultural department in the world.
Ai Weiwei
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No outdoor sports can be more elegant than throwing stones at autocracy no melees can be more exciting than those in cyberspace.
Ai Weiwei
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You need a purpose to express yourself, but that expression is its own purpose.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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The whole Chinese system - not just the political leadership, the military too, the whole power structure, our education system, the whole of society - is suffering from being cut off from the free flow of information. That's why the country can't face up to open competition - unless it resorts to measures like North Korea.
Ai Weiwei
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Dont retreat. Retweet!
Ai Weiwei
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Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.
Ai Weiwei
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Recently I danced in a video spoof of the song 'Gangnam Style,' and it was quickly banned across multiple Chinese online video platforms. But the story still traveled all over the world, carried in hundreds of international media reports.
Ai Weiwei
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Twitter is most suitable for me. In the Chinese language, 140 characters is a novella.
Ai Weiwei
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I don’t want the next generation to fight the same fight as I did.
Ai Weiwei
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I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom
Ai Weiwei
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These are nonviolent people who have lost their freedom simply because they expressed their ideas….In truth, they are heroes of our time.
Ai Weiwei
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Art should live in the heart of the people. Ordinary people should have the same ability to understand art as anybody else. I don't think art is elite or mysterious.
Ai Weiwei
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I came back [to Beijing ] because that's the only time I had an excuse to come back, or otherwise I would never have a reason to come back.
Ai Weiwei
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In a society like this there is no negotiation, no discussion, except to tell you that power can crush you any time they want — not only you, your whole family and all people like you.
Ai Weiwei