Invisibility as a scream to the world: Liu Bolin

Amaze. To create something incredible in the eyes of the viewer. This is the concept of art in my opinion. Generally, in order to amaze, one tries to go out of the ordinary, to enhance the work through colors and shapes, to make it stand out from the context. Today we have the honor of speaking with a great artist, who creates the incredible in the opposite way. He disappears. Liu Bolin ( https://liubolinstudio.com/ ) , Chinese artist known throughout the world as "the invisible man". An artist who transforms himself and his surroundings into a work of art, an extremely volatile work, which remains imprinted only in a photograph, where if we are not careful, we see nothing, but if we look carefully, we get a strong message. Liu Bolin answered our questions by giving us his point of view, not only on his work, but on many cultural and topical aspects, and on the positive messages he tries to communicate to the world.

Dr. Mr. Bolin, It’s a real honor to have you here on our magazine, and we really thank you for this opportunity. Even if you’re a famous artist, would you like to make a short introduction of yourself? How you get in contact with art at the beginning?

Hello, I am Chinese artist Liu Bolin, and I have been using my body painting to reflect on our world by hiding it in some context created by our human beings. I am very happy that this interview gives me the opportunity to share my story with you.

Before I formally studied art, I showed a little bit better artistic talent than kids of my age in art classes in regular high school. For example, in some life drawing classes, I drew more deeply and carefully than the average child. In addition, when I was a child in China, I didn't have many toys, and I had to make all the toys by myself, so I started to use this kind of spatial thinking and even this kind of modeling thinking to make toys by myself from a very young age. At that time, for example, like small airplanes, pistols, cars, pinched out with clay, using wire to outline it, that is to say, from a very young age, there is a training in the shape of space, of course, is to train themselves. When I got to high school, I came in contact with a good teacher, who slowly guided me, and I started to learn from sketching and coloring little by little. After entering the art university, I started to get in touch with some western art schools and masters, so that I could slowly build up my dream to become an artist.

You’re well known in all the world for your invisible performance, I read that the first time you did this, it was against a dismantle of artist village in Beijing, in 2005, is that true?

In 2005, Beijing attracted global attention as the 08 Olympic Games were held in the city, and Chinese contemporary art, as the image of China, was also in the spotlight. It was in this context that the Suojia Village International Art Camp was born. By 2004, more than 140 Chinese and foreign artists were working here, making it the largest international art camp in Asia at the time. However, from the beginning of 2005, the art zone was stopped due to illegal construction until it was demolished on November 16, 2005. My work was completed the day after the demolition in front of the ruins of the studio in the art district, questioning the whole event with the artist's own initiative to disappear, and using this work to call for society to pay attention to the survival of artists. I also opened up my own path of art creation, and confirmed my attitude of questioning and reflecting on society from the beginning of my creation. It created a new starting point for my artistic path, and at the same time confirmed the direction of focusing on the common topic of human beings through physical participation and summing up and prompting of events in my future creations.

This “first time” was the real beginning of this project, or the idea of “invisibility” was already in your mind?

I started to learn painting in 1985 and made my first work in 2005. In fact, it took me twenty years to accumulate some things, from the time I graduated from university until I graduated from graduate school, I was always in school. However, I experienced a very important low point in my life during the four years from 2001 to 2005, when I entered the society and came into contact with various things in the society. I was 30 years old, without a job, without money, without a family, such a state of life would make me feel redundant, and this emotional experience set the emotional tone of my works when Suojia Village was demolished. After having my own studio in 2005, I felt that I could get closer to my artistic dream, but I found that you are not allowed to really stretch your talent and personality, and your studio will be torn down. After this incident, after this protest, I found that not only myself, but all Chinese people have the same confused feeling as me. I then tried to use my works to express the feelings of all people. Now, I have been doing this for nearly ten years, and the reason that keeps me going is firstly, I like it, and secondly, my responsibility for human development. I would like to remind more people to pay attention to this issue.

About being invisible, one message I get from your performance, is that a single man means nothing in front of huge things such history, art, global tragedies or even technology. But nowadays, to became invisible to others, can be a real social problem, that bring maybe weak or “uncommon” person to disappear and be left alone. Is this a message you want to spread too? To take care of real people, to be closer to each other as humans?

Since 2005, I have been shooting urban camouflage works. In this series, I am choosing some backgrounds that are contradictory and interdependent with the environment in which I live as a human being and an individual. I choose such backgrounds to create my works, not only to tell myself, but also to tell the people around me, to tell the people who see this work to pay attention to the real relationship between the environment and us. I focus more on the meaning behind it, the meaning that makes people fade away, and the meaning that this environment created by human beings really brings to the spiritual growth of individuals. Since 2013, I have been trying to invite more people to participate in my works. My first target work is called "Cancer Village". Because of the environmental pollution brought by economic development, the natural death rate of many natural villages has increased, and many villagers are suffering from cancer. My initial intention was only to bring my subject matter closer to the society, but later I wanted to let the people involved in my work express their attitude towards the society with their own body language, their gestures, their bodies, and their hearts were all combined with the work at that moment. This is not just a simple expression, but a silent one, following the inner communication.

Your series Hiding in Italy and Fade in Italy, show a real good relationship with our country. What is your feeling of Italy, of Italian art and its historical heritage? And what was before to work in Italy? Did it change in anything?

Anyone who visits Rome, places like the Castel Sant'Angelo, the Borghese Gallery, and the Colosseum are must-see. I record these buildings in my own way in Italian history, because they are the heritage of the Italian national bloodline. As artists, we are particularly sensitive to such cultural information, like the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Yellow River in our Chinese culture, and whether we can find our place in the intersection of cultural information. It is the dream of every artist that these human cultures connect themselves with the classical human cultures. When I studied art textbooks and art history in high school and university, I would find a lot of classic art and architecture that I would really experience and appreciate in Italy, which is the source of my obsession with Italian art. This is the source of my obsession with Italian art. Specifically, I started to work on stealth works in Italy from the city of Verona in 2009. Because of the cooperation with Boxart gallery, they provided me with a lot of help. After that, I went to Milan, Venice, Rome, Naples, and many other cities, so I got to know more about Italy, and at the same time I fell more in love with Italian culture.

Even the series Migrants is strictly related to Italy and to one of the biggest matters we’re facing in the last years. Italy manages this with good people and bad politicians. What’s your feeling of this human problem, how we should do better?

In 2015 I shot works on the theme of migration in Catania, Sicily, followed by the Syrian crisis, and then there was a series of migratory flows in Europe, until now there are refugees from Ukraine. I think the emergence of migrants and refugees is due to local economic imbalances, civilizational imbalances, local wars, and religious conflicts.

At the 2017 Venice Biennale, I saw a work in the national pavilion, "I am a refugee, but no one wants to be a refugee". From an artistic point of view exploring the relationship between life and reality is a constant theme in art, just as in religion one would talk about life and death and where your soul goes. In art, we use images to talk about the human body, the suffering of people, the suffering that is being encountered, and it is also an inescapable responsibility of the artist. I don't want to comment too much about Italian politics, but starting with the 2020 U.S. election, when Twitter shut down the Twitter account of the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, it symbolized the official entry of the newest Internet personality into the international political arena. As an individual, with the development of network technology, satellite technology, each of us has become a data port, which is the direction of the inevitable human civilization. Including the current Russia-Ukraine war, we are actually using technology to fight with our human flesh, we "human" to fight with the technology we have created. In fact, the future of human beings is to think clearly about our own desires and the common respect and aspiration for life. The direction of our technology, what kind of technology can better serve ourselves and human beings, so that human beings can grow together in happiness and health. To live in a land of peace, sunshine and no war, this is the issue we need to focus on.

Going back to your unique art, we’re really interested to understand your work. First: how you select the place to hide in? Is it just related to the place itself? To a message you want to send? Or even colors, lights, shades are relevant for your choice?

The background is very important in my works, because I have to choose where to hide and bring out the meaning of this place. In principle, I can be invisible anywhere, but in fact, the choice of the background is the place where I put the most effort and thought into my work. Because I have to explain clearly why I am hiding in this background. When I first chose the background for my stealth works in China, I chose something related to China, for example, some big letters that I often saw when I was a child, some political propaganda slogans, our national flag, some classic Chinese architectural and cultural works. After 2009, I chose some negative backgrounds about China's economic development, such as bad drinks, expired food and magazines. In Italy I chose some classic artworks that I envisioned and loved, such as Moses and the water cities of Venice, which are the backgrounds of my obsession with Italian culture. In my work, there are other factors such as color and line that I need to consider. Theoretically, all backgrounds can be backgrounds, but in reality, there has to be social sensitivity in it, a way to draw people's attention to it.

Once you determine the place, how you go on? You take pictures? How you define the pose to get invisible?

After I choose a background, I usually think about where I'm going to stand and where I'm going to face. How far the camera should be from me. How can I better record this work. Once my position and the position of the camera are determined, the composition is basically defined.

I also take pictures, but I also ask my friends and photographers to take pictures for me, because I can't be both the photographer and the photographed in my work, so I need my assistant or photographer to press the shutter for me. But before pressing the shutter, I set all the light, angle, position, aperture and speed.

When I first shot into camouflage works, there were actually a lot of movements, sitting, lying down, creeping, and meditating. At that time, standing was only one of the postures.

About the painting process: how it works? Since you are the “painting”, do you have assistant that paint you following your instruction or pictures? How you check the process until it is complete?

After determining my position and the position of the camera, I would communicate with my assistant, for example, what colors were blocked behind me, how to paint him well, how to paint, what to find first and then what to find, how to better and faster, to reflect the colors blocked behind me on my body. Once I communicate with my assistant, my task is to stand still in my chosen position and try to cooperate with my assistant to paint the colors on my body, because when I move, they will encounter big problems, and then I am a model to cooperate with them to finish the work.

Since you “disappear” in different background, that sometimes are so far from you, I guess that is matter of millimeters. How long it takes to get the final picture, how you decide that is the moment to shoot the picture? Many people are involved in this?

The timing of the shoot mainly depends on the light and there are weather conditions at the time. For example, if there is wind and rain, it is necessary to go ahead and finish the shooting as soon as possible so as not to put all the work of the day into waste. The complexity of the background determines the creation time. If the background is simple, 3 or 4 hours, if the background is complex, such as the supermarket, it will take a lot of time. Because there are too many colors and details in the background, I have to try to restore the real colors. I drew one in Venezuela for about 6 or 7 assistants for three days. So, it will take a long time.

I guess that the painting phase last hours, how do you manage with the changing ambient light? Is this a fact you consider when start a new performance?

In my work, if you look closely, there is no obvious light. In fact, in my work, the best weather and light conditions are cloudy days. Or when the sun is not out in the morning, or when the sun is about to set, this time will avoid the strong light, so that my body will not appear obvious shadows and shadows, it is more conducive to go to hide.

Beside the “invisible” performance that all the people know, what other form of art do you like to follow or try? And what are your future project?

For the past ten years, I have been creating art all over the world, with international exchanges and collaborations. Because of the epidemic, many plans had to be cancelled and I had to do some creative work at home. Because of the quarantine, I saw on the internet and TV the epidemic ravaging human beings, which caused me to think about the earth and the fate of human beings, and also brought about a change in my creative approach. During this period, I made some virtual paintings, oil paintings, and some sculptures, which were created through 3D printing and scanning modeling, bringing people into the virtual program of fragmentation, formatting, and even pixelated changes. I feel that art creation should be related to the times, using the means that I am best at to explore the current world, so that I can accomplish the task given by my own history, discuss and show an artist's awareness and concern about reality through the methods that I am good at, and expand the boundaries of art language. I also hope that through these new creations, I can make the post-epidemic human beings think more about themselves, the technology we have and the cognitive limitations that human beings are facing.

For most of Italians, China is really “the other side of the world”, generally we know nothing about your country except cliches. How is the actual situation in China, related to young artist, comparing to your experience when you were a young artist, not yet famous?

Thank you for your question. In fact, I have been doing my best in the last 10 years to make Chinese art spread abroad, to make more foreigners, Italians to understand Chinese contemporary art. For our present East, the present China, is a very happy feeling, very peaceful, very hard-working people. We will work as hard as we can to survive. We Chinese people also love Chinese culture, and at the same time we pay attention to our own cultural heritage. We have our own philosophy of dealing with the world, we don't fight, we don't grab, we give more smiles, enthusiasm and tolerance to others, and we also try to hide ourselves as much as possible, this is a state that has been accumulated by Chinese culture for many years, it is brought out from our genes, and we all face some difficulties with smiles.

Regarding Chinese contemporary art, such as the age of images, the age of commodities, and even now the age of the Internet and the age of cell phones, Chinese artists are also experiencing this stage of civilization together with people and communities from all over the world, so that the development of Chinese art is happening and expanding simultaneously with the world. I think the future of art creation, in fact, young Chinese artists, because they have the same experiences and the same struggles, will also create the same contemporary art works that are understood worldwide.

We have a Chinese version of our site, that we want to grow up, any suggestion?

The website is actually not a new thing, it has to rely on computers, cell phones, and back-end coding to present its impact on people and to communicate its consciousness. With my thoughts and observations on culture, if there is any advice, it is to try to attract young people, because anything that starts out must have attracted the young people of the time, and the social elite of the time to browse and gain more knowledge on it. Try to let as many people as possible through your platform to make their voices heard, to exchange information, so that he will have to attract more people, there will be more views in your site to collide, so that there will be life, there are more possibilities.

Can we hope to see you soon again in Italy?

Thank you very much for your question, it is a very difficult time in China right now and it also allows me to go and communicate with my friends in the world during the epidemic, so that I can make my voice heard. I believe that when the global situation of the epidemic stabilizes, I will return to the world in due time, and more quickly to Italy, to embrace the Italian culture, the Italian cuisine.

Many thanks to Mr. Bolin for your kindness and your time, it’s a real pleasure for all of us to get the opportunity to hear a point of view of such a great artist. And we’ll wait you in Italy to embrace you and to live show our gratefulness.

Images from: https://liubolinstudio.com/