The idea to use backpacks came from my visit to Sichuan after the earthquake in May 2008. During the earthquake many schools collapsed. Thousands of young students lost their lives, and you could see bags and study material everywhere. Then you realize individual life, media, and the lives of the students are serving very different purposes. The lives of the students disappeared within the state propaganda, and very soon everybody will forget everything.

Even if there have been setbacks during these past years, China is changing. China's society is opening.

The Internet is uncontrollable. And if the Internet is uncontrollable, freedom will win. It's as simple as that.

I think art certainly is the vehicle for us to develop any new ideas, to be creative, to extend our imagination, to change the current conditions.

Behind every political deal in this country, the first casualties are always the ordinary people, who are barely treated as human.

I think we cannot have a double standard. We cannot see our art as different from the reality. We cannot use two different sets of judgment.

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.