Status Updates From 1000 jaar vreugde en verdri...

'after the photo was taken, i cleared the shards away so that my mother wouldn't see them: i didn't want her to view me differently. luckily, there was no shortage of han urns at the market, and i had no worries as far as ai dan was concerned, as he had long been witness to my pranks.' (2/2)

'as a way of introducing ai dan to the continuous capture function of one of my cameras, i had him record the last moments of a han dynasty earthenware urn as it fell from my hands. ... this capricious, inane act was just one of my many outlandish doings. ..." (1/2)

'i had come to realize that art is simply an identity, and nothing else. to break free of constraints doesn't mean you have gained freedom, for freedom is an expression of courage and sustained risk-taking, and facing freedom is always difficult, whatever the time and place.'

'art has its own language. its language may be unaesthetic and irrational, but it's the language of art all the same.
negative behavior has positive implications.
when people talk about someone with talent, they say, "he did things of significance." in the future, people will say this of someone with talent: "he did nothing at all."'

'allen reminded me of my father, for both were boys who never grew up. to them, the world was what found sanctuary in their consciousness, and when they died, that piece of the world perished, too.'

'"the poet who belongs to this great, unique era must commit to it uncomplainingly, enduring hardship as readily as missionaries who risk persecution, immersing his sincere heart in the emotions and dreams of the thousands.'"