During the days in detention, I thought most about the moon.

I don't personally feel any association with a kind of culture related to state, or culture related to power, which I think is always disgusting.

My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression, a new way of communication. It is never about exhibiting in museums or about hanging it on the wall.

I think the pearls - one is a necklace, and another you have five hundred pounds of pearls, which may be one million pearls in a bowl - really show a kind of [society] condition.

The tragic reality of today is reflected in the true plight of our spiritual existence. We are spineless and cannot stand straight.

At the moment about 350,000 students return to China from abroad each year - 350,000 young and educated people. I know about them because they know me and often ask me in the street if they can take a selfie with me. These folks are creative and ironic, and the government can ultimately not control what is going on in their heads.

The practice of photography is no longer a means for recording reality. Instead, it has become reality itself