Chinese artist Liu Bolin took the streets after literally being made homeless by the Chinese government. Suojiacun, an artists’ village in northeastern Beijing was torn down during the Olympic redevelopment. An interview with WhiteHot Magazine can be found here.
With the help of assistants, Bolin has achieved a Metal Gear Solid 4 optic-camo level of camouflage by painting himself to blend in with the foreground. In a series he’s called Hiding In The City, Bolin disappears into the urban landscapes of various cities. His photos haven’t been touched by Photoshop and there’s no camera trickery involved. The true meaning of his his art is up for interpretation, but if the first photo hasn’t rattled your bones, you must have the eyes of a hawk.
NotoriousR
Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 6:39 AMI stared dumbfounded at the first one for a while. And then it got me. Impressive!
Blake
Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 7:00 AMamazing, that first one wasn’t easy to spot.
Chuloopa
Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 9:11 AMAs amazing as these pics are..
1. They have nothing to do with gaming
2. They are REALLY old.. i saw these pics last year minus one or two…
But still… very impressive stuff..
weresmurf
Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 9:43 AMAnd yet, they made my day :)
Chuloopa, every now and then it’s nice to get something nice that’s a tiny bit of a break from gaming, even on a gaming website :)
weresmurf
Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 9:44 AMOh and they did kinda justify it with the Octocamo comparison ;)
Chuloopa
Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 10:52 AMhaha i know i know – i’m just tired and cranky :P But i did say they are pretty damn impressive :P
El Diablo
Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 1:02 AMSomething one or two years old isn’t, by any account, really old. El Diablo knows.
Mr Waffle
Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 12:28 PMI’m going to assume the meaning behind this work is the fact that regular Chinese citizens were completely invisible in the face of the glorious bulldozer that was the Olympic games (and the continuing modernisation of China). Nevermind the thousands who had their lives ruined by all the construction that took over their homes (or the centuries of heritage demolished); it’s all about progress baby!
CuddleBiggCanuck
Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 9:21 PMThat was one interesting comment you made Mr.Waffle about being in front of the buldozer. While probably not intended, I think it could be compared to the symbolism of the guy who stood in front of the tank in Tienamin Squre in the early eighties.
We all love the Olympics with all the shiny medals and pretty buildings but wherever they go they always leave a trail of displaced people behind who are always the most poor of course. I can’t speak for everywhere but I know this was the fact in both Vancouver and Montreal. In the end what’s it really all for?
Maybe I’m not knowledgable enough about the inner workings of China, but I really can’t imagine how ninety-five percent of their population is going to be advantaged by those buildings. Who can afford them and what are they going to use them for, homeless shelters?
bhujerba
Friday, August 6, 2010 at 4:44 PMyou say something about the Olympic stadiums not helping 95% of the Chinese, but the massive influx of money from around the world boosted the Chinese economy. Helping all people, more people than the tenements that were standing there before, but based on your comment about thinking ‘the man was painted onto the already taken photos’ you probably thought 95% of the Chinese people lived in those buildings.
Katie
Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 2:49 AMThis is awesome!!
@ CuddleBiggCanuck Lots of people stood in front of the tanks at Tiananmen Square. About 100,000. And about 30,000 of them died. That’s why the called it a Massacre Just thought you ought to know…
Ian
Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 8:55 AMKatie – while lots of people did protest in Tiananmen Square, most of the deaths occurred in the streets surrounding the square. The official death toll is 300, but more reliable estimates have the actual number of deaths at around 3,000. One of the important things about the protest was that the support from ordinary civilians given to the students was huge, and in fact it was mostly those civilians who bore the brunt of the casualties.
Nunayobinis
Saturday, July 30, 2011 at 12:30 PMI agree with you on the olympics but you can take it further and say the series as a whole is protesting the chinese government’s total control over everything there, including which houses get torn down. the people have literally no say in what their government does, rendering them “invisible” to their leaders. Sure, their economy is being boosted and they’re soon going to be the highest grossing economy in the world, but is that really worth losing your individual rights?
That’s just my personal opinion though. JUST SAYIN…
Nunayobinis
Saturday, July 30, 2011 at 12:34 PMHa. actually i only partially agree with you on the olympics thing.
Gman
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at 2:41 PMgive the man a PSP, a copy of MGS:peace walker, and the camo walkman.
We have a late entry for the Kotaku Stealth competition!
puff baby
Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 9:40 AMExcellent. Now if he could have disguised his shoes in the first one it would have been near impossible.
CuddleBiggCanuck
Thursday, August 5, 2010 at 8:48 PMThis is pure art genius at work. The fact that these images are actual photographs with the image of the artist painted in by hand is both refreshing and incredibly interesting and terrific.
I am new to StumbleUpon which in itself is a pretty incredible site and I must say to some of the previous commentators that we are cross pollinated here. In particular Mr.Chuloopa caught my attention with some of his comments. You are wrong to say this has nothing to do with gaming. I didn’t check gaming as one of my interests, yet here you are. That’s not by coincidence, like I say we’re cross pollinated here, my interests are in art and photography amongst many other things to do with the human condition. The connection here for gamers is that without pure art genius that this man has created as well as others, there would be no gaming like you know it! You would still be watching PONG the first video game and only available in bowling alleys. Bink…..bonk…..bink……bonk…..bink……
fuckface mcshit
Friday, August 6, 2010 at 12:35 PMThe artist isn’t painted into the photograph. He stand’s in the spot he wants, deciders how the shot is framed, and then his assitants paint HIM, as in they paint on his body and clothes, to make him blend in with the background.
big difference
J Morton
Saturday, August 7, 2010 at 4:47 AMShopped
fubsy snotrag
Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 10:50 AMI totally dried out my flesticle while looking at these unnecessary photos of a time-wasting Chinese dude. I’m too busy embezzling to look at such swill.
sam
Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 2:03 PMthis is wonderful! (the painting, not the situation…that’s rather tragic) It reminds me of Tobias from Arrested Development…
Amit
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 10:34 PMI was not able to find a person in first picture… amazing work.
fajas colombianas
Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 1:29 AMThe person on the first picture was very hard to find.
Ron Wild
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 4:40 PMAbsolutely amazing. Better than ‘Where’s Wally?’