DB and I went to an art show yesterday since I got us free tickets. What I did not anticipate was that the show was commercial in nature, a certain 5-star hotel has rented its rooms to artists and galleries and the latter will put up paintings, objects they sell all over the room. On the windows, the bed, the wall, the bathroom (!) mirror and bathtub (!). Why would anyone pay to go in just to potentially buy artworks (many of them are couples) is beyond me.
Then in one display room, a studio representative was talking to us about what their studio does: take photos in different styles and have them printed. She said during the exhibition they are doing an offer fro HK$500 you get an one-hour photo shoot, and get to have one wall print of 1 of the photos (you can select which one). But they won't give you soft copy of the photos taken during the shoot! WTF is that??? I can do similar stuff with a cell phone app, Photoshop on the computer, and take it to print myself! Or I can ask friends who are good at photography to do that, even though we don't have a studio environment. The whole package offered by the representative was ludicrous ridiculous!
The commercial factor aside, the rooms were really small, dated for a 5-star hotel in a prime location. The views are awesome though, after all people are paying for a prime location! We were a bit disappointed because the show was crowded, and the place was cramped, we did get our free drinks though. Our conclusion was that art was really an subjective and therefore the price is really arbitrary. What looks like a kid's drawing can sell for a lot, repetitions / collage works can sell for a lot but you never know how much effort / time is put into the work. There were really some good paintings though!
After the show we went for a burger and ribs dinner, we really liked the place since it's high-ceiling (guaranteed good vibe in my books), it was bustling but not noisy, and its tucked away in a very chic neighborhood. DB was not feeling that full so we headed back to the hotel and there's a large mall underneath and we looked for sushi takeaway at a supermarket. He finally settled on some and I got some bread on clearance, the supermarket was rather upscale being in a prime location with a few 5-star hotels nearby, so mind you they're still more than what I have in mind for "clearance" items but considering it's half-palm sized scones and banana bread (never tried before), I paid HK$43 for more than 3 breakfasts' worth of bakery goods. Had a bit of the bread today and it was decent without being sweet at all! I wouldn't be picking up anything from the mall's bakery next time though - because the deals aren't exactly 'deals'.
Have a fabulous weekend!
Oh I love banana bread! And the art show sounds interesting. It is a unique marketing ploy for both the hotel and the artists. I probably would not have bought anything but it would have been cool to visit.
ReplyDelete