Why do people think artists are special? It's just another job.

my go-to skirt these days in hk humidity

artHK 2012!

chai wan industrial city loft

the subject obviously belies the truth of how i feel about artists, and is just another reason to love andy warhol in all of his sardonic glory. 

making music in the fields

floormat made entirely of colorful plastic watches

playing piano

no pix of warhols from the fair, felt sacrilegious even snapping the ones above! art is still one of those things i try to approach with respectful distance. without prior cultivated knowledge (i.e. art history degree etc), it just feels toolish to cite as a hobby. yes, admittedly, an 8x11 cardboard matisse from the MoMA gift shop hangs precariously over my bookshelf alongside the shenzhen oil-on-canvas knockoff of some famous painting in my room. irrespective of my personal collection however, the enormity of this year's ArtHK fair further testified to hong kong's burgeoning creative scene. great news indeed!

thanks to new friends in PR, i managed to score two tix last min to friday's exhibition. called six people before realizing that all of my finance friends are gainfully employed, so i went to peruse and eat cantaloupe by myself at the wanchai convention center. managed to capture a few gems above to share, though largely found that only works with personal relevance warranted a stop. luckily i ran into my friend casey who is with taipei-based eslite gallery, and she helped decode. according to casey, the first is a photo of the artist playing cello, with the music going back into her ears, indicating an output-fueled input, or feedback mechanism of sorts. the take-away is "think before you act" and to use your prior actions as a gauge for future ones.  in abundance of caution for being overly scientific and utterly reductive on the matter, i shall refrain from further commentary on the other pieces. but i think i can safely say that the floormat made out of BabyG's is pretty sweet!!

but the best part of arthk festivities? paola sinisterra's tangram pop-up concept shop featuring designs by emerging asia-based designers. the wonderful kay of hill fashion and hong kong dog rescue accompanied me to this amazing space, these industrial lofts with seaviews galore! raw, gritty and real hong kong. we also enjoyed the coffee they served at chaiwanese (best name ever) in the industral city building, although for the amount of time it took to serve black coffee the taste didn't exactly hit it out of the park. in any case, am looking forward to seeing more works by homegrown designers and artists, and can't wait to see what else they come up with next year!