--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My work is always a ready-made…" description: "\"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 ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/ai-weiwei-824_art_my-work-is-always-a-ready-made-cultural_2989096.png" --- # My work is always a ready-made... cultural, political, or… ![“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.” quote by Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/ai-weiwei-824_art_my-work-is-always-a-ready-made-cultural_2989096.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/ai-weiwei-824_art_my-work-is-always-a-ready-made-cultural_2989096.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/ai-weiwei-824_art_my-work-is-always-a-ready-made-cultural_2989096.png) > “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.” [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art should challenge perceptions and reveal hidden contexts, prompting new possibilities. **In simple terms:** Art reveals hidden truths and sparks new ideas. Key Takeaway Create work that makes people reconsider the familiar. Themes art activism perception possibility culture Mood provocative reflective Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - gallery exhibitions - public installations - social campaigns - educational workshops Key Concepts critical theory social commentary public space Questions to Reflect On - How can you embed critique without alienating viewers? - What contexts reveal the most hidden assumptions? A Different Perspective Art may be censored or misunderstood, limiting impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [New possibilities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-possibilities/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) ## Related quotes > [Language is a social art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willard-van-orman-quine/language-is-a-social-art/) [Willard Van Orman Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willard-van-orman-quine/) > [Strive not for singularity in dress; Fools have the more and men of sense the less. To look original is not worth while, But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/strive-not-for-singularity-in-dress-fools-have-the-more-and-men-of/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [The key to looking great in the evening is to look original. Try to look different from others without looking out of place. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-mizrahi/the-key-to-looking-great-in-the-evening-is-to-look-original-try-to/) [Isaac Mizrahi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-mizrahi/) > [I am ready to work, I am ready for this job and I am ready for this challenge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-pearce/i-am-ready-to-work-i-am-ready-for-this-job-and-i-am-ready-for-this-2/) [Stuart Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-pearce/) > [I've reached a place with my work where I'm ready to concentrate more on life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-delany/i-ve-reached-a-place-with-my-work-where-i-m-ready-to-concentrate-more/) [Dana Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-delany/) > [Just go in and do your work and be ready for it, because when the stars align and the part is available and everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-lloyd/just-go-in-and-do-your-work-and-be-ready-for-it-because-when-the/) [Sam Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-lloyd/) > [I am ready to work, I am ready for this job and I am ready for this challenge. (on being Manchester City manager)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-pearce/i-am-ready-to-work-i-am-ready-for-this-job-and-i-am-ready-for-this/) [Stuart Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-pearce/) > [“Fix that hair! Close that mind! Repeat after me! Page me the second the old man croaks it! Now, are you boys ready? A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-murray/fix-that-hair-close-that-mind-repeat-after-me-page-me-the-second-the/) [Paul Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-murray/) > [I want the new band to work together for a while, and when we're ready we'll invite every major record company to see us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-bolin/i-want-the-new-band-to-work-together-for-a-while-and-when-we-re-ready/) [Tommy Bolin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-bolin/) > [“Money is always eager and ready to work for anyone who is ready to employ it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idowu-koyenikan/money-is-always-eager-and-ready-to-work-for-anyone-who-is-ready-to/) [Idowu Koyenikan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idowu-koyenikan/) > [All I want is greatness for West Virginia, and I'll work with anyone who is ready to help me turn this state around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-justice/all-i-want-is-greatness-for-west-virginia-and-i-ll-work-with-anyone/) [Jim Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-justice/) > [A historical property has morals and ethics of the society that created it and it can be revived. What I mean is that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/a-historical-property-has-morals-and-ethics-of-the-society-that/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [“Who art thou, Art? Do you make art the way I make love—with a paintbrush?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/who-art-thou-art-do-you-make-art-the-way-i-make-love-with-a-paintbrush/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“Art provides us with clues about how to live our lives more fully...about how creating, collecting, and even just appreciating art can make daily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-kimmelman/art-provides-us-with-clues-about-how-to-live-our-lives-more-fully/) [Michael Kimmelman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-kimmelman/) > [If you are going to break a Law of Art, make the crime interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/if-you-are-going-to-break-a-law-of-art-make-the-crime-interesting/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## More by Ai Weiwei > [I'm totally independent. I don't bear any responsibility to any system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-m-totally-independent-i-don-t-bear-any-responsibility-to-any-system/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [If my art has nothing to do with people's pain and sorrow, what is 'art' for?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/if-my-art-has-nothing-to-do-with-people-s-pain-and-sorrow-what-is-art/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [Police in China can do whatever they want; after 81 days in arbitrary detention you clearly realise that they don't have to obey their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/police-in-china-can-do-whatever-they-want-after-81-days-in-arbitrary/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [China has a rich history that has spanned millennia. It consists of the histories of many nations and regions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/china-has-a-rich-history-that-has-spanned-millennia-it-consists-of/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [This world should be much more open and should be much more free, so the young people would have the chance to exercise the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/this-world-should-be-much-more-open-and-should-be-much-more-free-so/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [By participating in the society we live in, we understand our conditions and the way we relate to the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/by-participating-in-the-society-we-live-in-we-understand-our/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [I see the Beijing National Stadium as an architectural project. I accepted Herzog and De Meuron's invitation to collaborate on the design, and our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-see-the-beijing-national-stadium-as-an-architectural-project-i/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [ I curated this show \[Shanghai Biennale \], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-curated-this-show-shanghai-biennale-i-was-by-no-means-trying-to/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [I think we cannot have a double standard. We cannot see our art as different from the reality. We cannot use two different sets…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-think-we-cannot-have-a-double-standard-we-cannot-see-our-art-as/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [It doesn't matter where I am - China will stay in me. I don't know how far I can still walk on this road…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/it-doesn-t-matter-where-i-am-china-will-stay-in-me-i-don-t-know-how/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [Chinese citizens have never had the right to really express their opinions; in the constitution it says you can, but in the real world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/chinese-citizens-have-never-had-the-right-to-really-express-their/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [Your own acts tell the world who you are and what kind of society you think it should be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/your-own-acts-tell-the-world-who-you-are-and-what-kind-of-society-you/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [Our lives are bound by physical limits, familial ties, political conditions, and geographical restrictions. Individual freedom takes us beyond them all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/our-lives-are-bound-by-physical-limits-familial-ties-political/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [Now I've come to such a mixed culture: America, Europe, South America, Africa. And the politics are changing everywhere all the time and becoming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/now-i-ve-come-to-such-a-mixed-culture-america-europe-south-america/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [I don't think it's worth discussing new directions in the context of Chinese art - there were no old directions, either. Chinese art has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-don-t-think-it-s-worth-discussing-new-directions-in-the-context-of/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) [Explore all 359 Ai Weiwei quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ai Weiwei" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/my-work-is-always-a-ready-made-cultural-political-or-social-and-also/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/my-work-is-always-a-ready-made-cultural-political-or-social-and-also/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/ai-weiwei-824_art_my-work-is-always-a-ready-made-cultural_2989096.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/ai-weiwei-824_art_my-work-is-always-a-ready-made-cultural_2989096.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ff/ai-weiwei-824_art_my-work-is-always-a-ready-made-cultural_2989096.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My work is always a ready-made... cultural, political, or social, and also it could be art - to make people…” — Ai Weiwei", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ai Weiwei", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My work is always a ready-made......", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/my-work-is-always-a-ready-made-cultural-political-or-social-and-also/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/my-work-is-always-a-ready-made-cultural-political-or-social-and-also/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```