Sitting in Hong Kong's harbor is a giant doll--well sort of. It is actually an art piece titled "Holiday" by KAWS, an American artist. It is one of the numerous art pieces found throughout the city in celebration of the city's Art Month. While many people think of porcelain and calligraphy when they think of Chinese art, Hong Kong also serves as a center for contemporary and modern art in Asia. Owing to the city's unique history as a colony, I found that the city's local art scene often combines Western and Eastern art styles. For this week, I want to share with you the city's unique neon sign art as a representation of the city's artistic traditions.
Walk down any busy street in Hong Kong and you'll still see the occasional neon sign. They light up in greens, blues, pinks and yellows. They show everything from soda advertisements to names of restaurants and eateries. Neon lights in Hong Kong first popped up in the 1920s. In the 70s and 80s, you could see entire streets lit up under these lights and there were numerous factories in the city that crafted the glass panels and tubes that made up these signs. By the height of this period, entire buildings were covered in neon. Think of it as similar to the streets of Times Square, but along every major road.
Today LED lights have largely taken the place of many of the city's neon lights.
