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 have all been placed on it.
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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 cutthroat 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, in the city’s Central business district.
The exhibition mirrors a workspace, with four artists given a standard office cubicle in which to present their work, 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 says.
The boss’ office is occupied by artist Dominic Johnson-Hill, whose idiosyncratic desktop was inspired by his 28 years doing business in Beijing.