At first glance, the office desk could belong to any Chinese executive — an ashtray, mini-flags, a golden sculpture inscribed with the character for “integrity” and a picture of a local celebrity.
Instead, it is part of a defiant art show challenging Hong Kong’s stuffy power structures, held in an office tower at the heart of a finance district famous for its long hours and cut-throat competition.
The group exhibition — named “RE:Urgent” in mockery of corporate-speak — is meant to “subvert the office space that we are working in every day,” said curator Renee Lui, managing director of Young Soy Gallery.
Photo: AFP
The exhibition mirrors a workspace, with four artists given a standard office cubicle to present their work in, and one displaying in the boss’ office. “This is sort of a really rigid space that people (wouldn’t normally) see as being able to contain creative ideas,” Lui said.
The main office is occupied by artist Dominic Johnson-Hill, whose idiosyncratic desktop was inspired by his 28 years doing business in Beijing.
“I went to a lot of bosses’ offices,” he said. “I really wanted to sort of copy a lot of that paraphernalia.”
Photo: AFP
His displayed pieces include a surreal digital wall clock, which tells time in an eerie, robotic voice. Next to its numbers is a picture of people looking down at their phones whilst queuing to enter a coffin store.
Johnson-Hill came across such traditional shops in a Hong Kong neighborhood and was inspired to create the piece, which he said poked fun at aimless work culture.
“I thought how wonderful it would be to see people dressed in office attire queuing... [it is] a ridiculous idea that was quite playful,” he said.
Photo: AFP
In another cubicle, artist Riya Chandiramani sits role-playing as an “unpaid intern” who dreams of starting a feminist revolution. In a painting, she imagines herself as the Hindu goddess, Kali, forced into a treacherous game of snakes and ladders set in the workplace.
“The numbers also represent ages, and so there is also that aspect of women not being allowed to age,” Chandiramani said.
The show is taking place during Hong Kong’s “Art Month,” headlined by art fairs that draw wealthy buyers from around the world.
Photo: AFP
However, gallery co-founder Shivang Jhunjhnuwala said he decided to ditch the fairs after two years because of high exhibition costs and “a lack of confidence in the art market.”
The show is pushing against the mainstream in its thematic matter too. In one corner, almost unnoticed, is a palm-sized paper cutout of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), trapped within multiple frames, by pseudonymous artist Louie Jaubere. “The people are not in control of what the state dictates,” the artist said, “but it is not targeted at China; it generally represents government or state control.”
Hong Kong’s freedom of expression and political rights have been whittled away since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020 after large and sometimes violent protests the year before. At the show’s opening, retired architect Serena Chan said she appreciated the show’s sense of humor.
“The other rebels are all gone,” she said. “Rebels in art are probably still allowed, so let’s have more of that.”
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
RSS