Hong Kong's Over The Influence gallery is currently in the final 10 days of their debut showcase with Liu Bolin entitled New Change. Also known as the "invisible man," the Chinese artist achieved worldwide recognition for his successful fusion of sculpture, performance, and photography. The showcase was accompanied by a live performance with locals, orchestrated by the artist himself.
Through his practice, Bolin expresses the social concerns of his home country and the tense relationship between the individual and society. Witnessing the extinction of individuality and even local community in a globalized, consumerism-driven society, his work literally represents the disappearance of a person in an urban environment. Focusing on a variety of themes from traditions and cultural symbols to ecological damage and consumerist culture, Bolin both metaphorically and literally exposes a specific moment of global "development."
Originally stemming from a political protest against the 2015 demolition of an artist compound in Beijing, the artist has used this concept in his work worldwide. Camouflaging storefronts, a pile of waste, or a collage of flags from around the world, Bolin points out the fragile position of the individual in our fast-paced modern society, a position that inhabitants of Hong Kong are all too familiar with.––Sasha Bogojev
Photography by @SashaBogojev & OTI
