Each year, more people want to become artists.

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.

China spends a lot of resources and effort on gaining soft power over culture. The hope is that it can be the last lifeline for the Party's survival. Obviously, the idea will fail.

Only with the Internet can a peasant I have never met hear my voice and I can learn what's on his mind. A fairy tale has come true.

I can still wake up the next day and feel that there's something that needs to be done, which always amuses me.

We have to give our opinion, we have to say something, or we are a part of it. As an artist I am forced to say something.

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.