Wong is a member of the Arts Development Council, which pulled the high-profile installation
The artists behind the suspended installation on the façade of Hong Kong’s tallest building, counting down to the end of “one country, two systems”, were attention seekers who have wrongly framed the suspension by the Arts Development Council as politically motivated, well-known actor Anthony Wong Chau-sang said.
Wong, a member of the statutory body set up to support the arts locally, also criticised Sampson Wong Yu-hin and Jason Lam Chi-fai as going against the moral standards artists should have.
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“It is like opening a nightclub in a place that was supposed to be a restaurant. You yell for help when you get kicked out. You’re just seeking attention,” local media HK01 cited Wong, known for roles in The Mobfathers andthe Infernal Affairs trilogy, as saying.
He insisted the council decided to suspend the installation only because the duo breached the “game rules” by changing the work’s name and concept four days after it went on display.
Anthony Wong accused the artists of seeking attention. Photo: SCMP Pictures
“It’s like you drew a pineapple and you need to tell people that it isn’t a pineapple you drew. People could only understand when you tell them [what you drew],” Wong said, criticising the artists’ level of expression, and saying the work was worthless.
The installation was called “Our 60-second friendship begins now”, which was part of the Human Vibration exhibition.
Before it was suspended, numbers displayed on the façade of the International Commerce Centre counted down the seconds until the “one country, two systems” principle is due to end in 2047.
Watch: how the display looked before it was pulled
Under that principle, Hong Kong is supposed to enjoy a high degree of autonomy for 50 years after the 1997 handover from British rule to Chinese. But a series of events since 1997, including the disappearance of the five Causeway Bay booksellers last year, have spread fear among Hongkongers that Beijing is tightening its grip on the city.
The council said on Sunday that the artists changed the title and statement of the work without consulting the curator or the council. It said the piece was originally named “Our 60-second friendship begins now” when it was selected for inclusion in the exhibition.
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The title was changed to “Countdown Machine” after the exhibition’s opening ceremony on May 18, the council said.
But Sampson Wong said on Monday that the curator was “in full knowledge of the content of the exhibited artwork”. The work had been unchanged since April, he said.
He said the two artists and their friends started a campaign called “Countdown Machine” the day the display started on 18 May, consisting of a website and a one-minute video of the ticking numbers on the ICC.
The “Countdown Machine” campaign was simply an interpretation of the original installation, he said.
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1952654/artists-behind-2047-countdown-hong-kongs-icc-just-attention
