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I spent a lot of time standing on street corners [of New York City] talking to local residents. I spent time in bookstores and galleries. But most of the time, I really did not have much to do.

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
Cities
Local
Talking
Corners
Much
Spent
Really
Street
Galleries
Time
York
Bookstores
Standing
Residents
City
Gallery
Streets
Locals

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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The art always wins. Anything can happen to me, but the art will stay.
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My situation gives me certain ideas about beauty or the excitement of life, but that doesn't mean other people can necessarily appreciate it.
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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.
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I have always stated I designed the stadium as a toilet seat. I don't care if this is a great cultural event or a national symbol. It has nothing to do with me. It deals with the city.
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I often feel more disgust than pride about this kind of success. So there's no regret whatsoever.
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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.
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Beijing is constructing a 100,000 m2 modern art museum, yet it will not feature any of my work.
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Everyone thinks the Chinese government selected me. Never ever. I was selected by Herzog and de Meuron.
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This so-called contemporary art is not a form, but a philosophy of society.
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I'm not nostalgic about the old city. I don't enjoy it that much. It was just a city with one emperor and the rest of them just rats or meaningless people.
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I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.
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Modern Chinese culture is weak and lackluster.
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...photographs are facts, but not necessarily true... The present always surpasses the past, and the future will not care about today.
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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.
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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.
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It became like a symbolic thing, to be “an artist.” After Duchamp, I realized that being an artist is more about a lifestyle and attitude than producing some product.
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I was an illegal alien for many, many years. I couldn't move. If I moved I could not even get a visa back.
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China is an old nation with a colourful history. Its booming economy has triggered an appetite and a curiosity around the world for its art and culture, one that continues to grow. I can, however, tell people that it is a show with no actor.
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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.
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It's always the rich and there's plenty to waste, yet still China has a lot of people living in very spare, poor conditions.
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