THE INVISIBLE MAN. Liu Bolin

"I use the final photograph as the best medium to express my art with."

To finish one work, it takes 3-4 hours. All the painting and all the photographic work are finished by my assistants. My work is to just stand still there. Some people would ask: you are not the one who does the painting, or shot the work, how can it be your work? But I was the one who chose which site we should use, and which assistant helps me to do the painting, or the shot. Before I started HITC, I would choose some sites as back-ups and then choose one of them as the place to shoot the photo. Before we start to work, I take a photo of myself-standing in front of the site. I then analyze which part is the most important one and which has to be done first. I also need to guide my assistants to make the right color choices. We then start to paint. I have to paint myself in the same color as the background, and more importantly I have to make the lines connect with those of the background.

Hiding in the City No. 17- People's Policeman, 2006, © Liu Bolin

I should say: because the environment where I live in is politically charged, it is inevitably influenced by it in this sense. I agree with those who say art can have a positive impact on the development of a society. The aim of art, through its meditations and doubts, is to emphasize the situation we live in. Equally, it is important to me that my work aids people to recognize the environment they inhabit.  When I began work on HITC, the artists’ studios were forcibly demolished. This informed my work with elements of doubt about society and a struggle with fate. It made my work have an insurgent temperament. Slogans such as in One Family, Demolition, Red Flag are also influenced from the environment I began creating my works in.

Hiding in the City No. 93- Supermarket No. 2, 2010, © Liu Bolin

In China, if you chose to be an artist, you have chosen paint and loneliness. As an artist, there is no position for you, and you have to face the fact that one day you will have nothing. In China, if you want to do performance art, there is no other choice. You have nothing beside your own body. Your body is the last card in your hands. So I have to have a strong mind to work as I do.