Quote

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.

Ai Weiwei

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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
Nothing
Opening
Suddenly
Realized
Notes
Ten
Mobile
China
Surprising
York
Phone
Getting
Phones

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

Image
What counts in the end is what the government does.
Ai Weiwei
Image
For artists and intellectuals today, what is most needed is to be clear about social responsibility, because that is what most people automatically give up. Just to protect yourself as an individual is very political. You don't have to march on Tiananmen, but you do have to be clear-minded, to find your own means of expression.
Ai Weiwei
Image
China has a rich history that has spanned millennia. It consists of the histories of many nations and regions.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I call on people to be 'obsessed citizens,' forever questioning and asking for accountability. That's the only chance we have today of a healthy and happy life.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.
Ai Weiwei
Image
My typical day is I wake up and appreciate that I can still wake up.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The relationship between the Chinese government and me is like a Cold War.
Ai Weiwei
Image
My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression. I don’t think anybody can separate art from politics. The intention to separate [the two] is itself a very political intention.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I think the pearls - one is a necklace, and another you have five hundred pounds of pearls, which may be one million pearls in a bowl - really show a kind of [society] condition.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I think by not letting young people be fully informed, how can they have energy and passion and the right picture of the world? I think that's the true crime.
Ai Weiwei
Image
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
Image
The art always wins. Anything can happen to me, but the art will stay.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Everything is art. Everything is politics.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The IT people who have made such an effort to know and understand computer technology. They are frustrated that you cannot use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in China. They are the first to recognize that the situation is terrible.
Ai Weiwei
Image
If you don’t act, the danger becomes stronger.
Ai Weiwei
Image
In the end, I think, the state's rigidity is a function of its own insecurity, its indecisiveness.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Growing up, my family was an enemy of the state. I have experienced more disappointment than joy, much more sad stories or desperate conditions.
Ai Weiwei
Image
If people are being abused or even killed during an arrest, this is highly disturbing.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I can still wake up the next day and feel that there's something that needs to be done, which always amuses me.
Ai Weiwei
Image
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.
Ai Weiwei