US artist Patrick Amadon says work with flashing names of Hong Kong opposition activists removed from screen in busy shopping area
- Patrick Amadon says accusations he supports ‘rioters’ in Hong Kong are correct but he would not reveal his location
- Pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po published an article suggesting an artwork displayed on giant screen promoted violence
A US artist on Thursday accused the Hong Kong government of removing his artwork which flashed the names of opposition activists on a giant screen in the city centre a day after a pro-Beijing newspaper suggested the piece promoted violence.
The digital artwork No Rioters, 2023, by Los Angeles-based artist Patrick Amadon, which featured a panning surveillance camera on a black and red background and momentary flashes of activists’ information, was shown on the giant LED screen in Causeway Bay, one of the city’s busiest shopping areas.
On Thursday at noon, the Post observed that the artwork was not displayed on the screen built on the wall of the Sogo department store. Only commercials were shown.
A spokeswoman for the city’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said it had not contacted the department store for anything related to the art piece nor had it been involved in the incident. The Post has also reached out to the Security Bureau, Amadon and Sogo for comment.
“According to a pro-Beijing outlet, I am ‘pro-rioters’. This is correct,” Amadon wrote on his Twitter account after revealing his work had been taken down.
On Wednesday, pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po published an article saying the giant screen in Causeway Bay was displaying an art piece “supporting violence”, adding the installation also contained names of opposition activists.
It also quoted Amadon’s earlier interview with local media in which he expressed his support for the 2019 protests. He had no concerns about any legal issues that might arise from his work.
In the earlier interview, Amadon explained he “did not want the sacrifices, principles and people who participated to be forgotten”.
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Barrister Ronny Tong Ka-wah, a member of the government’s key decision-making Executive Council, said the artist “might not necessarily” be violating the Beijing-decreed national security law but ran the risk of breaching the Crimes Ordinance through a seditious intention.
“But just sympathising with the riots is not enough. There must be intent to persuade others to do the same,” Tong said.
Under the Crimes Ordinance, a seditious intention causes hatred or contempt for the Hong Kong government and incites people to violence. It carries a maximum punishment of a two-year jail term.
It is not known if the artist is in Hong Kong. In another tweet posted the same day, Amadon wrote: “New Twitter egg accounts DM’ing me to ask if I’m in Hong Kong … gonna not respond to that.”
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The video is one of the digital pieces Art Innovation Gallery is exhibiting for Hong Kong Art Week 2023. The headliner event is Art Basel. The Post has contacted the gallery for comment.
The name of the artwork references one of the five demands raised during the months-long anti-government movement in 2019, which began as a protest against a proposed extradition law that would have allowed the transfer of fugitives to mainland China, among other jurisdictions.
On Amadon’s Twitter account, the digital artwork is a pinned post, uploaded on March 17, attracting more than 53,400 views as of 4pm on Thursday. Another video posted features the artwork on the giant LED screen, which has been shown in the popular shopping area since Monday.
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“This is being displayed on a large screen in Hong Kong for a few days. Managed to sneak pro-democracy protesters’ names, ages, and purported crimes into the flashing text,” Amadon wrote, referring to Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Lee Wing-tat, Shiu Ka-chun and Raphael Wong Ho-ming, whose names could be seen in the video.
The four were sentenced for their roles in the 2014 Occupy movement, which saw thousands of protesters bring parts of the city to a standstill in a push for universal suffrage ahead of the 2017 chief executive election.
Lee left Hong Kong for Britain in 2021 while Wong and Shiu served jail terms in 2022 and 2019 respectively.
Tai is standing trial for subversion for his alleged role in an unofficial opposition primary in 2020.
