LAST YEAR, four young artists lived out their daily domestic lives in the window of a popular London department store, Arding & Hobbes. They cooked, cleaned, e-mailed and did their laundry. Not surprisingly, crowds gathered. Passers-by and the performance artists communicated through the glass by holding up notes. Some spectators sent poetry. They even had a 'dinner party' in which viewers dined on the pavement while the artists ate theirs inside. Shoppers began, in other words, to interact with art.
The concept of putting art on display in shop windows is not new. It's been tried all over the world, from Melbourne to Paris, from New York to London with varying degrees of success. Until now, however, Hong Kong hasn't embraced the idea. But this is changing with a project called Art Windows, launched yesterday.
'The most surprising thing was such an enthusiastic response to our idea from everyone, especially when stores started saying they wanted to participate even without having seen which artists were involved,' says organiser Sabrina Fung, who owns a fine arts company and takes time off each year for non-profit pursuits. 'Some didn't even want to know what we would do. They were ready just to risk it. It's lucky for us they were so trusting.'
The work of 24 of Hong Kong's best contemporary artists, graphic designers, architects and photographers will be on display in shop windows from Central to Causeway Bay to Tsuen Wan. Exhibiting until the end of October, the project is an attempt to bring art closer to the public. And the audience should be enormous. Displays include David Lui's fibre optics at Seibu in Windsor House, Causeway Bay; Fiona Wong's photography at Millie's in Central; Hung Keung's creative and cutting edge video art in Joyce, Tsim Sha Tsui; a light box installation from Josiah Leung at Millie's, Tsim Sha Tsui; Dickson Yewn's photographs at The Body Shop in Tsuen Wan and Alan Chan's work in ceramics at Seibu in Pacific Place.
Another surprise for Fung has been that more stores now want to get involved. They range from top names such as Toppy, to low-profile, single-shop companies with no previous experience in such altruistic projects. Cynics might suggest the stores have been quick to spot a new marketing ploy. However, in such a conservative city, the faith they have placed in Art Windows is remarkable. Given that some of these prime window spaces in expensive malls are worth more than $400 per square foot a month in rent, coupled with the importance of company image, the stores are investing heavily in the project, knowing they may open themselves to criticism.
Finding suitably large and prominent shop windows for the displays involved Fung trekking around most of the SAR's malls. 'Selection of the stores was based solely on location,' says Fung, who is clearly a woman who knows her Balenciaga from her Benetton. 'The project was going to be a lot of effort for everyone, so I wanted maximum exposure. I walked through just about every mall looking for good spaces. I've never been to so many stores in the New Territories in my life.'