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

Categorized in : Thinking Purpose West

I'm doing quite a few things now. In one day, I will go to Kassel, Germany, for a documentary project I've been preparing for half a year. I will bring 1,001 Chinese to participate as my artwork there - any Chinese who is a Chinese passport holder and over eighteen years old could apply through my blog. I'm just bringing them to Kassel to see the art show, and pay their room and board.

chinese years art

[Cultural departments] don't care about culture. Maybe they're the furthest from the people who understand culture.

care culture people

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.

government understanding culture

If I really have nothing to do, I just watch my cats, take some photos, and go back to my personal blog.

blogs cat watches

You only have temporary curiosity, amusement, and challenges, but that does not necessarily mean you are really convinced that it's necessary or that it's not even worth to do it. It's just a way you have to set up some kind of activities to follow your instincts or your curiosities.

curiosity challenges mean

I don't think China has professional museums - not in the past, p... by Ai Weiwei

I don't think China has professional museums - not in the past, present, or near future.

museums past thinking

Each year, more people want to become artists. by Ai Weiwei

Each year, more people want to become artists.

artist people years

Just look at the statistics: Each university has tens of thousands of applications for students who want to be in art school, but they can only accept a few hundred.

looks art school

I grew up in a desert, which has no kind of imagination. by Ai Weiwei

I grew up in a desert, which has no kind of imagination.

desert kind imagination

The fantasy we had with pearls was always so luxurious and unique... by Ai Weiwei

The fantasy we had with pearls was always so luxurious and unique with a kind of rareness.

fantasy pearls unique

I don't think [price] reflects if the work is good or bad.A good artist shouldn't be nervous about that.

nervous artist thinking

Selling high or low doesn't mean anything. It has to do purely wi... by Ai Weiwei

Selling high or low doesn't mean anything. It has to do purely with the market.

selling lows mean

Because Chinese art is booming, it legitimizes this profession. by Ai Weiwei

Because Chinese art is booming, it legitimizes this profession.

profession chinese art

All the rich people collect traditional Chinese art. So it's very natural for Chinese families to still see art as the highest human performance and send their children to this field.

children people art

For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own. by Ai Weiwei

For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own.

opening my-own years

Even if I have hundreds of things to do, the disconnected feeling is still there because it is very hard to find a real purpose of life.

purpose real feelings

I think Allen [Ginsberg] was a person who's like a child. by Ai Weiwei

I think Allen [Ginsberg] was a person who's like a child.

ginsberg children thinking

In my case, I was stuck there for quite a while. New York is large enough to be a very abstract city, so nobody cares.

care cities new-york

I never saw [Allen Ginsberg] as some kind of crazy figure. by Ai Weiwei

I never saw [Allen Ginsberg] as some kind of crazy figure.

saws crazy kind

Of course, people will call you an old artist or young artist, which is just a character of you. But personally, I don't think my work and my understanding of art is so much related to being Chinese, but the character of that. Maybe it's beyond my own consciousness.

character art thinking