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

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

Image
Dont retreat. Retweet!
Ai Weiwei
Image
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
Image
What counts in the end is what the government does.
Ai Weiwei
Image
There's no single artwork I even want to mention or that I can even really think about it to have any feeling, to be proud of it.
Ai Weiwei
Image
In China, we don't have any contemporary art museums. Until a few years ago, we didn't even have a gallery.
Ai Weiwei
Image
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.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I don't like China. Even today, I still feel I have no emotional relations with this place.
Ai Weiwei
Image
The museums used to be exhibition halls for government propaganda, and now every city wants to build a museum. A few thousand are to be built in the next few years, all using taxpayer money. But there is no system, no research, no content, no good programs, no good managers.
Ai Weiwei
Image
New York has given me a lot, but I still don't consider it home.
Ai Weiwei
Image
Today, we jump into this globalization of the economy and the internet age.
Ai Weiwei
Image
You see so many people doing quite nice and respectful work, but nobody like Warhol. Warhol is outstanding. I think he has a value that is far from fully understood. He's very special for younger generations.
Ai Weiwei
Image
As a person, I was born to give out my opinions. By giving out my opinions, I realize who I am. As long as I can communicate, I'm not so lonely. If I cannot travel, or do art, or have company, if they take away all my belongings, it doesn't matter at all.
Ai Weiwei
Image
It [success] is really by mistake.
Ai Weiwei
Image
When I first got into the first-year study after the Cultural Revolution, got into the same school with this group, I wasn't conscious of the so-called Fifth Generation. I didn't like that kind of study condition because there's no real, true education there.
Ai Weiwei
Image
In my life, I often make so-called major decisions by very quick, immediate responses.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I think it's more important to show your work to the public.
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
China didn't want to lose the cutting edge of technology. So the idea of having a Sina Weibo was an attempt to compete with Twitter. However, it has no soul - which is freedom of expression. Nevertheless, I think the government regrets having Sina Weibo, but they cannot shut it down. That would definitely be suicidal.
Ai Weiwei
Image
I never had secure, belonging feelings with this society [in China].
Ai Weiwei
Image
Everyone wants an iPhone, but it would be impossible to design an iPhone in China because it's not a product it's an understanding of human nature.
Ai Weiwei