Liu Bolin

(born 1973 in Shandong, China)

is a Chinese artist known for taking photographs of himself, 

painted in order to blend in with the background.

He graduated from the Sculpture Department of Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

These series is called "Hiding In The City".

Liu said he wanted to show how city surrounding affected people living in them.

He added that the inspiration behind his work was a sense of not fitting in to modern society and was a silent protest against the persecution of artists.

He said: 'Some people call me the invisible man, but for me it's what is not seen in a picture which is really what tells the story.

'After graduating from school I couldn't find suitable work and I felt there was no place for me in society.

'I experienced the dark side of society, without social relations, and had a feeling that no one cared about me, I felt myself unnecessary in this world.

'From that time, my attitude turned from dependence into revolting against the system.'  

Liu said he was further pushed on with his work when the Chinese authorities shut down his art studio in Beijing in 2005.

He said: 'At that time, contemporary art was in quick development in Beijing, but the government decided it did not want artists like us to gather and live together.

'Also many exhibitions were forced to close.

'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.'  

Liu's art credentials were formed after he graduated from the prestigious Sculpture Department of Central Academy of Fine Arts in China.

He said his work requires a lot of patience with him having to pose and work on his photographs for more than ten hours at a time to get it just right.

'My job is to choose a good background where I want to be "disappeared", and then stand there unmoved until a design has been painted on me,' he said.

'There are many people who like my work I think because my work has a quiet strength, in the photographs.

'I am standing, but there is a silent protest, the protest against the environment for the survival, the protest against the state.

'I wanted to photograph the reality of scenes of China's development today.

'My work is a kind of reminder, to remind people what the community we live in really looks like, and what kind of problems exist.' 

Olivier Theyskens

(born January 4, 1977 in Brussels, Belgium) is a fashion designer who has worked with several major houses, including Rochas, Nina Ricci and Theory. 

It was so nice that I have a chance to meet Olivier in Lane Crawford yesterday. He is such a lovely person. He is one of the talents whom I really admire in the fashion industry. We both love him so much.  He currently becomes the artistic director of the brand "Theory". Here is a video I would like to share with you. Let's take a look at Olivier Theyskens and see how he defines himself as a designer and also as a person.

Love Olivier Theyskens, love his personality, love his passion, love his design, love everything of him.

"Define us, but you can't. We can be anything."
This is not only for us  , but also for Olivier Theyskens.

Define us SIX

DefineUs 100, 2 of Us

Zhe Chen

Zhe Chen, from Beijing, China

is a LA-based artist/photographer

who studied Photography & Imaging in Art Center College of Design, CA

The photo series The Bearable (2010) is one of the documentaries of self-inflicted activities of Zhe and others focusing on body modification, human hair, identity confusion, post-traumatic stress disorder and memory in the past 4 years.

Stealing is your best vice

 "Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don't bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: "It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to."

 - Jim Jarmusch (American independent film director)

Bermuda Bonnie

Bermuda Bonnie is a music solo project by Rebecca Huston who currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Evil by Bermudabonnie

Define yourself
Imagine group of 15 best friends, all around age 11 dancing around on a hot beach at sunset, eating rainbow popsicles and dancing in perfect synchrony when an extraterrestrial life form beams them all up to a psychedelic space ship. On this ship, they find themselves in a technicolor dance all, with smoke, laser beams, and extravagant swimming pools. The aliens offer them the secret to eternal youth, which also comes with the ability to never have to rest to keep dancing, so they dance, and dance, forever.

Influence
Originally, it was The Smiths who inspired me to start writing my own music, but my influences sonically consist of Stephen Merrett, Fiery Furnaces, Of Montreal, Passion Pit, but mostly pool parties and rooftop sunrises.

Pros and Cons of being a musician
The "pros" of being a musician would have to be all the free traveling into space for alien dance parties, hover-boarding, unicorn riding, free snacks, and having an "excuse" for staying up all night long and sleeping all day. As for the "cons"? Having difficulty describing how awesome I am to non-alien lifeforms would have to take the cake.


Favourite Places
Aside from psychedelic technicolor alien dance halls in space ships (obviously,) I also enjoy remote deserted islands, any place with delicious mixed drinks. There was this one time when my Dad and I were on a shallow sandy "spot" in the middle of Lake Poygan when Daft Punk appeared and gave us a private show while we water-skied and danced. That was pretty sweet.

Feeling Lost ?
Oh I feel lost all the time, sometimes I wake up not knowing what planet the beach I'm on is.... I'm currently a beta tester for a new (top secret) Google Maps "galaxy edition" which has helped me a tremendous amount when I'm floating in space and trying to find where planet earth is. I often get lost in my music and don't know what direction is up, nor what direction is down. Sometimes I get lost in different dimensions and have difficulty understanding what "reality" is.

Best Gig
I bought this flash drive once that was sold as "1GB" but once I plugged it into my computer the actual memory of it was a whopping 1069 megabytes!!! That was definitely the best GIG I've ever had, since most of the time there is less storage than is advertised.

Three essential things
Swimming with fish in water, dancing with robots on the beach, and my personal intergalactic unicorn taxi.


Picnic or movie
Without a doubt I'd pick doobie, I am a big supporter of marijuana legalization and find it to be a great icebreaker when meeting extra-terrestrial beings, it brings people together and expands their minds.... what's that?  you meant "movie" and not "doobie?" sorry, then definitely a picnic... obviously.