Space is often an issue in Hong Kong homes, where room to display favourite treasures is at a premium. When the walls are suitably decked but you just have to hang that new painting from Vietnam or silk scarf from Cambodia, look up. The ceiling can provide a new frontier. 'My former office was in a big loft, so I could spread out. I used a large opium bed for display,' says Sin Sin Man, artist, designer and owner of Fine Art Gallery and Atelier Sin Sin in Central. 'But when I moved to this building I lost a lot of space.' The architecture of Atelier Sin Sin, housed on four floors of a 1930s colonial building at 18 On Lan Street in Central - complete with steep and original staircases - invites high ideas. Man thought vertically and installed an ingenious and easy-to-fashion ceiling-mounted display system (pictured right) that could work equally well in the home. The traditional bones of the building called for traditional material, so she selected bamboo as the main element for her creation. The hanging pulley system - made with bamboo rods that she picked up on the street, common hook-and-eye hardware, and twine and sailing cleats purchased from the Hong Kong Yacht Club - affords an ideal display zone. 'I love fabric and this is the best way to hang it,' Man says. Apart from material, she has hung framed art and clothing from the rods, which, thanks to the wall-mounted pulleys, can be fixed at varying heights, creating a contrast among the pieces and giving the room an interesting perspective. Atelier Sin Sin has five overlapping rods arranged in three staggered rows. For Man, who often showcases the works of new artists from Southeast Asia, the system is a perfect platform for her rotating installations.
