Camouflage part 2

Saturday we have a Camouflage Party at T.R.A.C.S.

This is the second article with reference to the theme.

Camouflage Art

Inspired by how some animals can blend into their environment some artists use camouflage principles to create amazing contemporary art.

Dutch artist Desiree Palmen lives and works in Rotterdam, NL. Many of her pieces are based around the idea of Camouflage.

For each photo, the artist designs a new camouflage suit which has to be made with the greatest precision or the illusive effect will not work. It takes hours to paint each full-body, canvas-white suit. First she takes photographs of the scene then, back in her studio, she meticulously transfers the details on to the suits with acrylic paints. The artist takes the model to the scene and films the reactions of stunned passers-by. She said: “It’s never perfect but when it works, that’s enough for me.

“People always react strongly when they see my work. They have mixed reactions – confusion, surprise and interest. Desiree Palmen has created her works in home-town Rotterdam and an alleyway in Jerusalem, Israel.

Liu Bolin (Chinese: 刘勃麟; pinyin: Liú Bólín) is an artist born in China’s Shandong province in 1973, and he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Shandong College of Arts in 1995 and his Master of Fine Arts from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 2001. His work has been exhibited in museums around the world. Also known as "The Invisible Man", Liu Bolin's most popular works are from his "Hiding in the City" series; photographic works that began as performance art in 2005.

The 35-year-old Liu Bolin manages to camouflage himself in any surroundings, no matter how difficult they might be.

One single photo takes up to 10 hours to prepare - Liu uses himself as a blank canvas, and with a little help from an assistant, he paints his body to merge as seamlessly as possible with what is behind him. The results are incredible – sometimes passers-by don’t even realize he is around until he moves.

While his camouflage artworks are really mind blowing, he’s has a message: “The situation for artists in China is very difficult and the forced removal of the artist’s studio is in fact my direct inspiration of this series of photographs, Hiding In The City…I am standing, but there is a silent protest, the protest against the environment for the survival, the protest against the state.”