Liu Bolin is a contemporary artist born in China’s Shandong province, who specialises in self-portraits where he is disguised to match his surroundings. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Shandong College of Arts in 1995 and his Master of Fine Arts from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 2001. “In 1972, Liu was allowed to attend college in Beijing, where she studied until 1975. Following graduation, she attended graduate school at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Socialist Realism supplied the guiding principles at both schools, and there was very little room for deviation.”
Art hacker:
Art hacker is the point where the model is hidden in the photo, having paint painted on them the same as their background, they are clearly camouflaged into the background. He says “The point of my Hacker Series is to question the relationship between a country and its people, the domination of a government’s political power, as well as the rights to the photos themselves,” says Liu. Liu Bolin’s first series, Hiding in the City, began in 2005.
I believe that hiding in the photos shows a sense of fear and terror, the fact that every little detail is included in the photos shows that the artists have a good perspective on life and never miss out any important things, this helps me to see that this is related to real life events and you should always pay attention to what’s around you as you never know when you may see these people, places or events again.
Liu Bolin, shows in his photography work that he holds no emotions in the photos to represent a neutral emotion, it makes it harder to identify a person in the photo. This is the artists way of doing a silent protest against the Chinese government’s policies.
Here, it shows how the artists gets ready to take their photograph, it also shows us how their photoshoot is set up and how every detail counts to be able to blend in. We can see that the artist has placed himself in a position and area the best for him, we can see the artist painting on the model and another lady also showing the model what the painting look like so far. From this photo the painting doesn’t look that detailed however from far away you can see all the detailed and barely see that someone is blended in the building or surrounding. The artist is really talented and made sure to have the right colour to match the surroundings and not make it look odd or out of place.
I really like this artists as it helps me to get different opinions and perspectives of the world and how people let the world shape meaning in their lives, for example I feel that this artists can might show an opinion on the world quite positively and helps us understand why everyone is different and why our opinions should be heard and why we should be seen as a person however i do believe that this could make people feel the opposite as the artist is blended into the buildings and surrounding’s meaning that they are trying to blend in with everything/ everyone else, they aren’t standing out or being their selves they would rather be seen as everyone else as they are too afraid to be seen as ‘different’ and would rather stay ‘normalized’ like everyone. The artist has put a lot of thought to show that everyone has an opinion in whatever way they show it. He wants to show people the power of the photograph itself and how the photo holds the domination of a government’s political power.
What would make the photograph look really cool is if they painted on the model in black and white so that the model stands out but we can still clearly see the details used in the photo. Although I feel that it would be a lot harder to create the same effect as not all details and shades would match up perfectly, but it would make the model stand out a lot more and create that meaning of being your own person and having your own thoughts.
If I were to recreate this I would use a projector to project an image onto a person, this would help create the image that technology has shaped this society and people these days cant live without technology. This would be an easier way for me to take photos with as I don’t have the skill to paint a background on a person. Although my photos wont have the same effect as lio Bolin’s work but it would have a similar effect.