Throwback Thursday is when we trawl through the That's archives for a work of dazzling genius written at some point in our past. We then republish it. On a Thursday.
By Emma Chen
We spoke with 43-year-old artist Liu Bolin on how he got his start, his favorite artists and his early works.
I started camouflage art on November 18, 2005 - the date my studio was demolished.
My first work was shot in the studio ruins. My body was hidden in it. I was standing there in silent protest.
During that period I had no income, no anything. It made me feel superfluous to society. I became invisible.
When I graduated in 2001 and started looking for a job I was qualified for a teacher position in a university. But I had no network, did not send out gifts like other people and was not good at handling interpersonal relationships. So I didn’t get a job.
Completing a whole work takes about four to five hours, so I need to stand for a very long time. There is an element of the masochistic to it, and in many ways it is like a sit-in protest – a non-violent form of protest.
I advocate independent thinking, away from the system. The value of art should be a reflection and criticism of social reality.
Picasso and Andy Warhol are my favorite artists because their art and achievements reached so many people.
I love to try different art languages, forms and mediums to explore new stuff. I used to study sculptures, so in future I may also work on sculptures.
I strive to resist in my mind and heart; my work is an extension of my thoughts.
My favorite image is ‘Gray opening ceremony. It was created at the opening of an arts festival and shot in front of a gray wall. It was a very cold day, -2°C. The brush on my face felt like a knife cutting into me.
My direction has been always clear: to let people notice what our living environment is like.
Today there is too much emphasis on economic development, every year talking about GDP, GDP, GDP… isn't that funny? To fool us into being a tool to make money.
Always focusing on China felt a bit narrow, so last year I shot overseas at historical sites and attractions. Contemporary communication between Eastern and Western cultures interests me. I want to use my body to express the views of society. As a Chinese figure in the West, do I feel any cultural aggression? There is a lot I can dig into.
What do I hope to achieve through my art? Like a flower, everyone wants to bloom bigger, more vivid, more colorful.
This article first appeared in the January 2011 issue of That's Shanghai. To see more Throwback Thursday posts, click here.
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