Ai Weiwei: Trending quotes

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Ai Weiwei: 436 quotes39 likes

“I think my stance and my way of life is my most important art.”

Osnos, Evan. “ It’s Not Beautiful: An Artist Takes On the System http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/05/24/100524fa_fact_osnos?currentPage=all.” New Yorker, May 24, 2010, 54–63. 2010-, 2010

“I think the government [will] lose the battle. Because for a nation to develop, the government needs to correct the information, they need to have a space for people to be involved, to discuss, to participate in the change. Otherwise, I don’t think they can really last in this kind of development, because economically it goes so fast but politically it stays the same as many, many years ago. I think even the government senses that this is impossible.”

Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei, “In China, Is Censorship the Mother of Creativity?” Interview on The Stream, Aljazeera, April 16, 2012.
2010-, 2012

“I loved New York—every inch of it. It was a little bit scary at that time, but still, the excitement was so strong—visually and intellectually. It was like a monster.”

Ai Weiwei

2010-, I have to speak for people who are afraid, 2010

“I think strategically China has come to a very crucial moment. They [the government] have to re-justify themselves. Even the past 20 to 30 years are based on a kind of destructive, suicidal act. Now they are trying to reach a higher level, but I think in any society, culture should have its own rights: not to be touched by the government, not to be promoted by the government, also not to be destroyed by the government.”

Ai Weiwei

Gill, Chris. “ Ai Weiwei: ‘To use art is not enough.’ http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/“To-use-art-is-not-enough”/19818” Art Newspaper, December 3, 2009. 2000-09, 2009

“When I checked into a hospital [in Germany, after having been beaten by police in Sichuan], I was told there was bleeding in my brain and I was near fatal collapse. I was rushed into surgery. When I awoke I felt like a normal person again. But I will not feel whole until I and my fellow Chinese can live freely.”

Ai Weiwei

2000-09, An Artist’s Ordeal. 2009

“They [the government] cannot stop people from communicating freely, to get information and to express themselves. When they do that, this nation is not a right place to live. They sacrifice generations of people’s opportunities. This is a crime.”

Ai Weiwei

2010-, Ai Weiwei: The Dissident, 2011

“They [the government] really want to maintain power. At the same time, they refuse to communicate. They refuse to have good intentions. They refuse to be sincere. How can that last?”

Ai Weiwei

2010-, Ai Weiwei: The Dissident, 2011

“Maybe there is something I got from it. Maybe you also start to be clear on certain things.”

Ai Weiwei

2010-, Ai Weiwei: 'Every day I think, this will be the day I get taken in again...', 2011

“It is absurd that so much money has been wasted on manipulating public opinion, on simulating emotion. This nation is notorious for its ability to make or fake anything cheaply. “Made-in-China” goods now fill homes around the world. But our giant country has a small problem. We can’t manufacture the happiness of our people.”

Ai Weiwei

2000-09, Happiness Can’t Be Faked, 2008

“They know too many things they should not know and they do not know some things they need to know.”

Ai Weiwei

Moore, Malcolm. " 'Ai Weiwei: "The police can be very tough, but I can be tougher sometimes.”' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-features/9299885/Ai-Weiwei-The-police-can-be-very-tough-but-I-can-be-tougher-sometimes.html," in: Telegraph, May 30, 2012. 2010-, 2012

“Expressing oneself is like a drug. I’m so addicted to it.”

Ai Weiwei

2000-09, The Bold and the Beautiful, 2009

“I think it’s a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression and to use any way to extend this power.”

Ai Weiwei

2010-, Ai Weiwei Does Not Feel Powerful, 2011

“We should 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.”

Ai Weiwei

“ Why I’ll Stay Away from the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/07/olympics2008.china.” Guardian, August 7, 2008. 2000-09, 2008

“The art always wins. Anything can happen to me, but the art will stay.”

Ai Weiwei

“ Ai Weiwei: Artistic Licence http://www.economist.com/node/21554178.” Economist, May 5, 2012. 2010-, 2012

“The fundamental problem is not that there are limits on voicing different opinions here. The problem is that the whole society is dying through lack of responsibility or involvement.”

Ai Weiwei

2000-09, Truth to Power, 2008

“In an environment without public platform nor protection, the individual is the most powerful and most responsible.”

Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei on Twitter in English (beta). http://aiwwenglish.tumblr.com/ (January 10, 2011)
2010-, Twitter feeds, 2010-12

“Cities really are mental conditions. Beijing is a nightmare. A constant nightmare.”

Ai Weiwei

2010-, The City: Beijing, 2011

“My blog is an extension of my thinking. Why should I deform my thinking simply because I live under a government that espouses an ideology which I believe to be totally against humanity?”

Ai Weiwei

2000-09, Truth to Power, 2008

“I always want to design a frame that’s open to everyone. I don’t see art as a secret code.”

Ai Weiwei

“ Artist’s Quotes http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/unilever-series-ai-weiwei/artists-quote.” Excerpted from a conversation with curators Juliet Bingham and Marko Daniel, Beijing, May 31 and June 1, 2010. Tate Museums, UK. 2010-, 2010

“A land that rejects the truth, barricades itself against change and lacks the spirit of freedom is hopeless.”

Ai Weiwei

2000-09, Ai Weiwei, Nursing Head Wound, Sharpens Criticism, 2009