Assessing Influence: Art, Auctions and Audiences in Hong Kong

We live in a city with a global cosmopolitan image. Its rich cultural fabric is embedded in its history and in the people who live here, who are both multi-cultural and multi–national. In this unique environment visual art is serviced by an equally multi-cultural and multi–national plethora of providers, giving a virtual nonstop flow into the visual diet. Yet, cultural consumption is primarily dominated by the global position of the auction markets, which have had a significant and as yet unexplored effect on what we consume and the perception of consumption.

This paper will begin to unpack the implications of the economic success of the auction markets and how it relates to the ways of seeing and understanding visual art in Hong Kong. Inevitably we must, therefore, begin with questions; what is the cultural implication of the highly successful auction art markets in Hong Kong? And, how is this effecting cultural consumption?

我們生活在香港，一個擁有國際都會形象的城市。城市的豐富文化底蘊在歷史中根深蒂固，亦與當中生活的人們密不可分，各種民族文化共冶一爐。在這個特殊的環境裡，視覺藝術作品和相關活動由大量來自不同文化、種族的「供應者」源源不絕地提供，各種視覺口味應有盡有。可是，文化消費1 依然由拍賣市場的全球地位所主導，對於人的文化消費模式和觀念有著十分明顯的影響，而這種影響力有多深遠，依然未被探索。

本文會嘗試剖析拍賣市場的經濟成就所帶來的影響，以及它如何跟香港看待和理解視覺藝術的方式扯上關係。因此，我們難免要由這幾個問題開始討論：香港的藝術品拍賣市場相當蓬勃，這對文化帶來甚麼影響？這又如何影響文化消費？