Hong Kong International Art Fair 08

HK's biggest art event of the year took place a couple of weeks ago. It was a mass gathering of over 100 galleries from something like 20 countries. The work for sale ranged in variety, with prices anywhere from $7K - $250million HKD. This wasn't your average art sale.

We saw many familiar works, as well as a lot of new things coming out of China I had never looked at. This was my first actual 'art fair' and I have to say I don't think it's the best way to sell art that's for sure. It was fun to look, but the quantity and variety would turn off most first time art buyers. I suppose that's what the private VIP opening was for, the people with real money.

Culture Club Gallery

Friday night I discovered this nice-relaxed atmosphere club in Soho. My co-workers had been there before, and had always said how cool it was. The place is quite unique in Hong Kong. Not many bars are very chilled out and quiet, and they are usually all crammed. We were the only ones inside for about 3 hours. The music is interesting, but not so loud you need to shout at anyone to communicate.

The other neat thing about this place is that it functions as a small art gallery as well. There were black and white prints lining the walls. All in all a great place, great atmosphere, and it's not too expensive either.

...and the wine kept coming.

Rauschenberg 1925-2008

“I really feel sorry for people who think things like soap dishes or mirrors or Coke bottles are ugly,” he once said, “because they’re surrounded by things like that all day long, and it must make them miserable.”

Oscar Oscar

This is funny.

"Did you catch the flaming ignorance displayed at the Oscars, when the telecast narrator mentioned that The Departed was based on a Japanese film?" (BWG)

It's from HONG KONG MORON! I wonder how many Americans know that Japan is nowhere near Hong Kong. And of course everyone here thinks the HK version was much better. I might have to go buy a cheap VCD of it to compare, I have only seen the American one, which was good, but it was no Goodfellas or Godfather.

I guess Scorsese mentioned HK in his speech. Still you'd think tape-delayed TV could get things right.

Canadian Content

Why do I loathe Candian Art writers? The following from a CBC.ca article entitled, "Young Canadian scores solo show at U.K.'s National Gallery" is a perfect example.

The first thought that came into my mind, was that 'hooray, a young artist from Canada actually got mentioned in a Canadian article!' Trust me it doesn't happen often. I was soon dissapointed. Turns out that this so called 'young' artist is none other than 34-year-old Tim Gardner. Since when is 34 young? It's not even remotely young!!! This is why the art scene in Canada ranks pretty damn low compared to most other developed nations. You have to be 34 to be considered a young artist!? So what happens to all the genuinely young artists, you know, the ones under 30! That's what young is! Oh ya i forgot, they are all sucked dry of their money during a wasted 4 years of art school, believing that their country will give a damn about their art when they finish school. Hahahaha. Am I bitter? Only slightly.

What angered me even more about this article is the use of the term 'photo-realism.' Wouldn't that mean Tim's painting would have to be realistic? I've seen his paintings, and for one they are not even close to photo realistic, and they are no different than what every hack of a painter in 1st year art college can do. Actually I've seen more realistic work from 10 year olds.

I don't personally enjoy photo realism when it comes to paintings, so this didn't bother me as much as the attention Tim was getting for being 'young.' I'm all for artists getting support, but the ones who need it most are the ones doing work worth looking at, not the normality that is Tim Gardner's paintings. I know at least 5 friends from ACAD whose paintings are vastly more interesting than this crap.

The author of this article didn't stop at making me laugh about just the young part. He/She writes the following well known over stated fact.

"Though not well-known in Canada, Gardner has already started to make an impression in the international art world, including with his well-received debut solo exhibition in New York in 2001."

Hooray, yet another artist from Canada that had to move away in order to find success. Maybe if the Tories stay in power another term we can just ban art in Canada all together, that sounds like a good idea. I've heard people say this on a daily basis about Canada's commitment to the arts, yet nothing is ever done. Good for Tim for at least making a dime. I hope he doesn't spend any of it back in Canada because the country doesn't derserve it.

Also making me laugh was this little blurb...

"He can do anything with watercolour. He is now doing anything with pastel, in ways that are amazing"

Ooooooh! Pastels! Such an intriguing choice of medium. Come on! Are you serious??? Pastels are for kindergarten children, gimme a break!

"I think people are hungry for that pure skill in image-making"

Pure skill and pastel should never be mentioned in the same paragraph.

"In his work, the intensely shy Gardner creates snapshot-looking portraits"

Ya, maybe if you pay the dude in the back alley to do your photo finishing. Then I can see the relationship between his paintings and photos.

"The contemporary images invoke themes such as heroism, youth, masculinity, friendship, family and middle-class life.

"I see the work as my relationship with the landscape. That's why it's always — for the most part — single figures," he said."

I think I need to throw up...

Things that make me laugh.

1. Monkeys 'attacking' people.
-A large group of macaque monkeys alledgedly rushed a bus load of passengers in Lion Rock Park. hahaha. Good for the monkeys. Read more here.

2. Hong Kong's newest movie theatre.
-Guess what? Some moron of a foreign investor decided to open a drive-in movie theatre in Hong Kong. Ya, ridiculous. Anyone who has ever been to Hong Kong knows that the thing people hate the most in Hong Kong is being outside. Besides the pollution, it's usually just too damned crowded outside to feel comfortable. Unless you climb to the top of the mountain, perfect place to suck in all that beautiful brown air, haha. Back to the theatre. Surprisingly I read this article on Macleans.ca, but it mentions the theatres website as well. Whoever wrote the theatre's website has also never been to Hong Kong. This is such a bad idea. I don't know where to start.

I'm sure they have good intentions (the website says that it will give people a chance to get away from the regular busy congestion of Hong Kong), but I imagine this place will go out of business very soon. First of all, it has 200 parking spots. 200? That's it? That'll fill up rather quick in a city with 7-8 million people. Also, with the price tag ($100 per person) no one will pay that when they can sit in a well ventilated theatre with leather seats for $80. There's a reason this is the first drive-in theatre in Hong Kong. It's a dumb idea.

The wbsite boasts of being able to watch a movie "under the stars." Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Stars? The lights at the top of IFC Centre do not count as stars! Hahahahahahaha. That's about the only light in the sky you can see in Hong Kong. With the amount of smog in TST (where the theatre is) you can barely see across the harbour most days. Stars? Hahahaha, get real. Even where I live, in the farthest point from Central, you can see maybe 5 stars at night. And they're probably satelliltes. Oh boy, stars, ya, hahaha...... Gimme a break!

The atricle says this 'could be expensive' in Hong Kong. In reality you could probably buy an NFL team cheaper. The rent this guy pays must be insane. Even if the theatre charged $1000 per car I doubt it would pay the bills. I think they forgot that Hong Kong gets up to +35 in the summer, at night! I can see it now, people in the 5th row complaining because the exhaust from all the cars running their AC is smogging over the screen. Hahaha. Dumb dumb dumb...

Here's the article.

3. Jackie Chan commercials on the bus. It's just funny.

4. Cantopop. It's so amazingly bad, you can't help but laugh at it. Cantopop is just another word for Karaoke. None of the 'pop' stars here actually sing their own music. It's all ripped off from American 'talent' (wow that was a stretch).

5. VCD's
- Just another word for FAKE. Fake. Bad Quality. Stolen. Ripped Off. Counterfeit. Illegal. Etc. etc. Yet they sell them at every major music store in Hong Kong. Even HMV. Anti-piracy? I don't think that will be taught at English class any time soon. I'm gonna head over to HMV's site and see if they have any crap about how stealing music is bad. If they do, they should be ashamed.

I could write more, but I'm laughing too hard.

Mai's new ice

UPDATE: So ya. I ummm, screwed up a little. Only the first design is Mai's, the picture of the two earings, necklace, and ring (I deleted the other images). The others are from her 3 co-workers. Ooops! Anyway, the pictures can still be found at the link below.

Edited > Here are the new works Mai just recently designed. She works for JustGold HK, where she designs jewellery. These are all in stores as of October.
Click on the picture to go to the website for JustGold.