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I lived there [ in New York City] as an artist, but never as a Chinese artist.

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
Chinese
York
Lived
City
Cities
Artist
Never

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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New York is a city where you're so alone, you're an individual, you can disappear. You can make something happen. But it's very different to make something happen in the art world.
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I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom
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I don't think there is a distinct change, because in the West I'm not a person who can serve his purpose.
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What is important is that we actively express our thoughts and wishes, in every realm that we can access.
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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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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.
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I have to respect my life, and free expression is part of my life. I can never really silence myself.
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Say what you say plainly, and then take responsibility for it.
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I have people working together, doing different things: architecture, art installation, photography, publishing, and curatorial works and design.
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I can still wake up the next day and feel that there's something that needs to be done, which always amuses me.
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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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Mass production is nothing new. Weren't cathedrals built through mass production? The pyramids?... Paintings can be painted with the left hand, the right hand, someone else's hand, or many people's hands. The scale of production is irrelevant to its content.
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I never saw [Allen Ginsberg] as some kind of crazy figure.
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Creativity is part of human nature. It can only be untaught.
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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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My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression, a new way of communication. It is never about exhibiting in museums or about hanging it on the wall.
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If artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do it?
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I always want to design a frame that’s open to everyone. I don’t see art as a secret code.
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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.
Ai Weiwei
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The art always wins. Anything can happen to me, but the art will stay.
Ai Weiwei