Destroy or build. Crazy or noncrazy. I'm not nostalgic about the old city. I don't enjoy it that much. Ai Weiwei More Quotes by Ai Weiwei More Quotes From Ai Weiwei I think my stance and my way of life is my most important art. Ai Weiwei importantartthinking The Internet has established a public sphere and developed a pressure which the government can no longer ignore. Ai Weiwei spheresgovernmentpressure The practice of photography is no longer a means for recording reality. Instead, it has become reality itself Ai Weiwei photographymeanreality I don't think there is a distinct change, because in the West I'm not a person who can serve his purpose. Ai Weiwei westpurposethinking I was an illegal alien for many, many years. I couldn't move. If I moved I could not even get a visa back. Ai Weiwei aliensyearsmoving In my life, I often make so-called major decisions by very quick, immediate responses. Ai Weiwei responsedecisionmajors 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 tryinggivingmen The importance of elections, transparency, legal procedures, an independent army, and the judicial system is not regarded as highly in China. These core values are the most important evidence of the health of a society, quality of life, and security. A clear understanding of such differences will help the rest of the world understand China and all that is happening to the nation. Ai Weiwei independentdifferencesarmy I think it's more important to show your work to the public. Ai Weiwei importanceimportantthinking I was in the most restricted prison in China, the most tough. The design of the prison is modeled for internal crimes of the Communist party, so it's like a mafia family's law. It's independent to the law this nation openly applies. It's the place they take you before they give you over to the judicial system. You stay there for a year or two and they make you really suffer to confess everything. Ai Weiwei independentpartyyears [Cultural department] understand nothing but bureaucratic daily affairs. They don't care about culture. Ai Weiwei affaircareculture Otherwise, I think the building can be bigger, larger, and the city can be much more crazy. The problem is the government structure is so deadly stupid, not really solving problems but creating a lot of problems itself every day. Ai Weiwei crazystupidthinking If civil society has nobody who protects the law, then what kind of society is that? Ai Weiwei protectkindlaw 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. Ai Weiwei airwaterpeople To work in architecture you are so much involved with society, with politics, with bureaucrats. It's a very complicated process to do large projects. You start to see the society, how it functions, how it works. Then you have a lot of criticism about how it works. Ai Weiwei bad-assbadasscriticism This is a very general understanding of art in China, that being an artist can make you money and turn you into a star. Ai Weiwei understandingstarsart This world should be much more open and should be much more free, so the young people would have the chance to exercise the quality of their lives. Ai Weiwei qualityexercisepeople If I look at it, I would laugh. I don't know how I became successful. Ai Weiwei successfullaughinglooks 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. Ai Weiwei pyramidshandspeople China hasn't only existed for one day. Now, the whole nation has become richer and it's become a problem. The problem is universal. The factor is big. Everybody has to rethink the balance of the world and the whole landscape. Ai Weiwei balanceone-dayworld
