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Man has a tendency to try to give clear reasons to be rational, but often you can see how all those reasons are not convincing and turn out to be a big nonsense.
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
Men
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Tendency
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Tendencies
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Nonsense
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More quotes by Ai Weiwei
Our lives are bound by physical limits, familial ties, political conditions, and geographical restrictions. Individual freedom takes us beyond them all.
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[Cultural departments] don't care about culture. Maybe they're the furthest from the people who understand culture.
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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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I don't think China should care if this crazy old guy should have a show here or not. You have so many museums in the West, and so many shows, you need somebody to show the work, otherwise it's empty.
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I'm totally independent. I don't bear any responsibility to any system.
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If it's possible, I will have some noodles in the morning and start talking to people, start to think about a few things in my head - the project or a few ideas which are not finished or if there are possible directions and what will lead into another game. It's always like setting up some kind of game you can continuously play.
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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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Behind every political deal in this country, the first casualties are always the ordinary people, who are barely treated as human.
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My angst and my insecurity reflect the state's angst and insecurity. The state is scared too.
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In my case, I was stuck there for quite a while. New York is large enough to be a very abstract city, so nobody cares.
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Life is never guaranteed to be safe, so we better use it while we are still in good condition.
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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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Now many enterprises are made by individuals, so the attitude has started to change.
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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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You only have temporary curiosity, amusement, and challenges, but that does not necessarily mean you are really convinced that it's necessary or that it's not even worth to do it. It's just a way you have to set up some kind of activities to follow your instincts or your curiosities.
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A city is a place that can offer maximum freedom. Otherwise it’s incomplete.
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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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If there is no free speech, every single life has lived in vain
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[Being unique] gives so much privilege to people who can make it, rather than having some moral and aesthetic discussions.
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China and the U.S. are two societies with very different attitudes towards opinion and criticism. In China, I am constantly under surveillance. Even my slightest, most innocuous move can - and often is - censored by Chinese authorities.
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