I think of art as coming from daily life, daily experience. I think it's very important not to have it become work for some kind of elite circle.

[Museums] all belongs to the cultural department, which is the biggest cultural department in the world.

The media is the message. It carries the full intention and the meaning. Once you change it...it's very disturbing.

I think U.S. and China is a big opportunity, to be seen as partner or some kind of strategic partner maybe. But those kind of powers have a way of getting too big, then we'll have competition. And who is going to win the competition if U.S. cannot hold a strong ideology? And even the U.S. would've lost the ground to win.

I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.

Censorship is saying: "I'm the one who says the last sentence. Whatever you say, the conclusion is mine." But the internet is like a tree that is growing. The people will always have the last word – even if someone has a very weak, quiet voice. Such power will collapse because of a whisper.

Beijing is constructing a 100,000 m2 modern art museum, yet it will not feature any of my work.