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This is a very general understanding of art in China, that being an artist can make you money and turn you into a star.

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
Understanding
Turns
Artist
Art
Star
Money
China
Make
General
Turn
Stars

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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The relationship between the Chinese government and me is like a Cold War.
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The society was so different [in China] - it was a feudalistic society. It didn't come to a point of industrial revolution until twenty years ago.
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To express yourself needs a reason, but expressing yourself is the reason.
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I don't personally feel any association with a kind of culture related to state, or culture related to power, which I think is always disgusting.
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This week, the world gathers in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic games. This is the extraordinary moment China has been dreaming of for 100 years. People have been longing for this moment, because it symbolises a turning point in China's relationship with the outside world.
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Modern Chinese culture is weak and lackluster.
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I don't think it's worth discussing new directions in the context of Chinese art - there were no old directions, either. Chinese art has never had any clear orientation.
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Historically, China is not a nation of sportsmen. We traditionally put more emphasis on being close to nature than pushing endlessly to excel. A philosophy that values tranquil contemplation of the landscape cannot easily be adapted to the Olympic slogan of 'higher, stronger, faster.'
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The purpose of art is the fight for freedom.
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China has not established the rule of law and if there is a power above the law there is no social justice. Everybody can be subjected to harm. I'm just a citizen: my life is equal in value to any other. But I'm thankful that when I lost my freedom so many people shared feelings and put such touching effort into helping me.
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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.
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We have to give our opinion, we have to say something, or we are a part of it. As an artist I am forced to say something.
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Choices after waking up: To be true or to lie? To take action or be brainwashed? To be free or be jailed?
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People have a tendency to become elite rather than to care about the general conditions of the society, which makes me sick. It's an unbearable condition.
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To experience poetry is to see over and above reality. It is to discover that which is beyond the physical, to experience another life and another level of feeling. It is to wonder about the world, to understand the nature of people and, most importantly, to be shared with another, old or young, known or unknown.
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I am very much interested in the so-called useless object. I mean, it takes perfect craftsmanship, beautiful material carefully measured and crafted, but at the same time it’s really useless.
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Liberty is about the right to question everything.
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Cities really are mental conditions. Beijing is a nightmare. A constant nightmare.
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I believe [the architecture firm] Herzog and de Meuron and our collaboration made the product the best it could be.
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We are living in a popular culture where everything is overexposed.
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