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I don't think I was very structured in that society and I don't really believe in personal success, which most Americans believe in.

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
Really
Think
Thinking
Structured
Americans
Personal
Society
Success
Believe

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The American experience influenced my understanding of individuality, basic human rights, freedom of expression and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
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We should also leave behind discrimination, because it is narrow-minded and ignorant, denies contact and warmth and corrodes mankind's belief that we can better ourselves. The only way to avoid misunderstanding, war and bloodshed is to defend freedom of expression and to communicate with sincerity, concern and good intentions.
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Growing up, my family was an enemy of the state. I have experienced more disappointment than joy, much more sad stories or desperate conditions.
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Through my work and ways of expression, I strive to engage in dialogue with the society that I am living in.
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Everything is selected by the central government without good judgment or an understanding of culture to make it really safe. They will become nobody to maintain their power and be raised to the next higher level.
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Because Chinese art is booming, it legitimizes this profession.
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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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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.
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We are living in a popular culture where everything is overexposed.
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Anyone fighting for freedom does not want to totally lose their freedom.
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China seems unpredictable because it has a distinct culture and social system. It is still a mystery to other parts of the world, even though the veil of China has been lifted many times as a result of globalization.
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This so-called fame or being better off doesn't really attract me at all.
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Any politician who respects China's government should tell it openly what is in his heart. It is disrespectful to keep quiet about such issues - both vis-a-vis the government and the people concerned.
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I never saw [Allen Ginsberg] as some kind of crazy figure.
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Dictatorship is a story about death of others who turn out to be you coincidently.
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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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If there's the right condition, I always want to express the concept or ideas in a very independent way.
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The Internet is uncontrollable. And if the Internet is uncontrollable, freedom will win. It's as simple as that.
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