What kind of superpower would you choose if you were endowed one? Liu Bolin chooses to disappear!
Liu, 37, is called “the real-life invisible man.” He hides in various surrounngs, including pulled-down houses, the hands of police and walls with decades-old slogans. Last year, he also tried disappearing in places overseas, like telephone booths in London and the Colosseum in Rome.
“I try to dsplay the relationship between people and the environment we live in,” Liu said.Despite standing there without uttering a word, people can feel his silent power, and as a result they reflect on their surroundings and rebel against constraints.
Inspiration from Suojia Village
Liu’s first artwork, also his most famous piece, was created in 2005 in Suojia Village at a time of tumultuous change.Suojia, a remote village in Chaoyang District, became home to Beijing’s first community specifically built for artists in 2005. It established the International Arts Camp and attracted more than 100 artists from Beijing and other provinces, along with dozens of arists from overseas, including the US, France and Japan.
Just after the community was established, however, Suojia was forced to remove Art Camp due to “illegal occupation of land.” Artists presented petitions and protes to no avail. The fledgling community was no more by the end of the year.
Liu arrived at Suojia in May 2005 with high expectations after years of difficulties and setbacks. After studying sculpture in his hometown in Shandong Province in 1995, he taught for four years. In 1999, he enrolled in postgraduate studies at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing, the top art academy in the country. But after graduation, Liu still failed to find a proper job. He returned to his hometown to continue teaching. Then in 2005, he got an opportunity to be an assistant for his CAFA tutor in Suojia.
