“I don’t accept the ways of Chinese cartoonists — most of them spend 10 or 20 years just drawing and drawing,” he said. “That’s not what I want to do. I write novels, I sing music.”

A cartoon for China’s new generation

China’s artists “concentrate on how much money they’ve made, but there’s no imagination,” says the 50-year-old Ai, whose $4 million project will be funded in part by his Swiss dealer, Urs Meile, and three private Swiss foundations. “It’s just China’s hype.”

The-Ka-Ching-Dynasty

I’m not sure what to think of the “new” China art scene. I’ve been to DaShanZi and talked to more than a few artists. The consistent vibe that I’ve gotten though is not art for art sake but rather art to make money. And so, it all seems a bit “fake” to me. But fake or not as long as there are people buying the art at exorbitant prices there will be “artists” that create to form. The hope, I guess, is that a few true artists will come out of the masses.