iMedia: Liu Bolin, "The Invisible Man"

 The art of Liu Bolin is truly incredible. More of his work can be seen at http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/meet-the-real-life-invisible-man.html . Liu Bolin, and his assistants, paint Liu into the surroundings by matching the shades perfectly. Here, Liu even paints his face to the poster behind him, in addition to the steps and walls. You can hardly see Liu Bolin, which is why he dons the nickname "The Invisible Man". It is truly an art and incredible talent to be able to match those hues and paint oneself into the background.
 Liu Bolin, however, and his art, seems to be a commentary on life and our society today. Liu Bolin is simply echoing what so many of us already do, even if we do it unconsciously. He is showing how we look to an outsider, as we blend into society's picture. We seek to conform to the colors around us and to match the hues of celebrities and famous people. Whether it be fashion, etiquette, what we say, or where we go, we constantly as a society are conforming.
 Liu Bolin is showing us what the problem with conforming is; we can not be identified. Liu himself has mentioned his intentions of demonstrating individuality and specifically, he wants to preach anti-conforming in the face of the Chinese communist regime.
 I personally find his work incredible. For besides the societal messages he is portraying and teaching, Liu Bolin is an awesome demonstration of personal effort. He spends about ten hours working on his art and has to match several different colors, a testament to complete concentration.
 It strikes me because I know the difficulty of concentrating on something for that long. When I am doing a lot of homework I struggle in sticking to the work for any long period, yet Liu shows me that sure enough, if I put my mind to it, I could keep working for as long as it took.
 By disappearing, Liu manages to cause new ideas to appear inside our minds, and to teach us important lessons about being human.