“Democracy, material wealth, and universal education are the soil upon which modernism exists.” WealthDemocracyMaterialsUniversalSoilModernismMaterial WealthUniversal Education Author:Ai Weiwei
“I will never leave China, unless I am forced to. Because China is mine. I will not leave something that belongs to me in the hands of people I do not trust.” PeopleHandsMinesChinaPatriotism Author:Ai Weiwei
“Politics is like air and water. And you know if there is bad politics. Everyone is polluted. Everyone is unhealthy. See the people walking on the street: how they act.” PeopleIfsKnowsPoliticsWaterAirStreetsWalkingUnhealthyAir And WaterBad Politics Author:Ai Weiwei
“My work is always a ready-made... cultural, political, or social, and also it could be art - to make people re-look at what we have done, its original position, to create new possibilities.” PeopleLooksArtMadeDonePoliticalSocialPossibilityPositionReadyOriginalsNew Possibilities Author:Ai Weiwei
“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.” PeopleHandsLeftPaintingMassBuiltProductionsScalesIrrelevantPyramidsCathedralsNothing NewLeft HandMass Production Author:Ai Weiwei
“I always want people to be confused, to be shocked or realize something later.” PeopleWantRealizingConfusedShockShocked Author:Ai Weiwei
“I'm a free man now, except I cannot leave China. You know, I have no desire to travel. I have so many things to do; I cannot finish them now.” KnowsMenDesireTravelChinaThings To DoFree Man Author:Ai Weiwei
“In a society that restricts individual freedoms and violates human rights, anything that calls itself creative or independent is a pretence. It is impossible for a totalitarian society to create anything with passion and imagination.” HumansPassionIndividualImaginationCreativeRightsImpossibleIndependentHuman RightsTyrannyPretenceIndividual Freedom Author:Ai Weiwei
“Stupidity can win for a moment, but it can never really succeed because the nature of humans is to seek freedom. Rulers can delay that freedom, but they cannot stop it.” HumansMomentsWinningSucceedStupidityRulersDelay Author:Ai Weiwei
“It's just common sense that if you only have one candidate remaining, the apparatus of government should be responsive enough to accommodate that and not spend any more taxpayer money,.” IfsShouldEnoughGovernmentCommonCommon SenseCandidatesTaxpayersAccommodate Author:Anthony Weiner
