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Everyone thinks the Chinese government selected me. Never ever. I was selected by Herzog and de Meuron.

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
Thinking
Herzog
Selected
Chinese
Thinks
Everyone
Government
Ever
Never

More quotes by Ai Weiwei

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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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In a society like this there is no negotiation, no discussion, except to tell you that power can crush you any time they want — not only you, your whole family and all people like you.
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Imagine one day, the hateful world around you collapses. And it is your attitude, words and actions that put an end to it. Will you be excited?
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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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China's culture and history are closely related to my living environment. This country is my birthplace. It is also where I grew up. Its culture and history shape my relations with family, friends, society, and daily life.
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Destroy or build. Crazy or noncrazy. I'm not nostalgic about the old city. I don't enjoy it that much.
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I always want people to be confused, to be shocked or realize something later.
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Creativity is the power to act.
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The motivation is really to say people can find the game of getting involved interesting and find the problem and really have the passion and the enthusiasm to solve it and move forward, but that's all I know.
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Freedom of speech implies the world isn’t defined. It is meaningful when people are allowed to see the world their way.
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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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Overturning police cars is a super-intense workout. It’s probably the only sport I enjoy.
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Art needs to stand for something.
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No matter what happens, nothing can prevent the historical process by which society demands freedom and democracy.
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I don't believe in a sense of home.
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I suddenly realized I was getting ten opening notes a day on my mobile phone, more than when I was in New York. But this is China, where nothing is surprising.
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I’m an artist who is always looking for what is possible. I’m always looking to extend the boundaries.
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The misconception of totalitarianism is that freedom can be imprisoned. This is not the case. When you constrain freedom, freedom will take flight and land on a windowsill.
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I think I'm just a traveler. When you walk across a river and there's no bridge, you build one. I'm used to having to deal with Chinese Communist ideology - it's not really an ideology, but a method of control. But China's problems are not just China's problems - they're human problems. Humanity has always worked better when you see it as one.
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I think by shattering it we can create a new form, a new way to look at what is valuable — how we decide what is valuable.
Ai Weiwei