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25-03-2023
CITY OF VICTORIA: A digital billboard artwork in Hong Kong which included secret references to local dissidents has been removed.
The No Rioters piece by US artist Patrick Amadon had been displayed the past week on the side of a department store in central Hong Kong.
The artist revealed the deception last week, which involved inserting names of jailed activists in flashing text that couldn’t be seen by the naked eye.
He told media that he had created it in “solidarity” with protesters.
The 24-second video, which also featured a panning surveillance camera, had included the details of jailed pro-democracy protesters. This could be seen in photographs of the artwork.
Amadon said on Friday the artwork’s removal “completed” its political message about the crackdown on the city’s civil freedoms.
“A few years ago, this art would have been a free and legal expression. For the government to take it down now objectively demonstrates how Hong Kong has changed and completes the art work,” Mr Amadon told media.
Hong Kong authorities have yet to comment on the artwork and its unclear if any request was made to have it removed.
However, the gallery organizers of the artwork told media the owners of the affected Sogo department store had ordered for it to be taken down.
Francesca Boffetti, from the Milan-based Art Innovation Gallery told media the store owners had made the call for the display to be wiped from the 1,400 square metre billboard on Thursday.
The piece had this week been displayed during the Art Basel fair and other events during Hong Kong’s Art Week. The Hong Kong government has sought to promote the city’s return as a cultural hub after years of pandemic curbs. (Int’l News Desk)
