[Shanghai Biennale] has been my attitude for as long as I've been practicing art and other cultural-related activities.

We grew up in a very material-lacking socialist society, but today China is a capitalist society. It's very materialistic. It's full of desire and luxury goods.

Cities really are mental conditions. Beijing is a nightmare. A constant nightmare.

I spent a lot of time standing on street corners [of New York City] talking to local residents. I spent time in bookstores and galleries. But most of the time, I really did not have much to do.

Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.

If people are being abused or even killed during an arrest, this is highly disturbing.

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.