Ami Tsang Tsz Hei & Magnhild Fossum
McStudios – The ideology of the role of studio
2014 / concept by Ami Tsang, performance by Magnhild Fossum / 1-channel video / colour / no sound
McDonald‘s is famous in its native North America for its cheap fast food, as well as for its drive-through service. This merchandizing strategy had to be completely rethought when it comes to the company‘s operations in East Asia in general, and Hong Kong in particular.
The restaurant first opened in Hong Kong in 1975, and was the first to consistently offer clean, spacious, and bright environments to its customers, as well as repeatedly play delightful songs over the intercom. It has become a yuppie slum, and with very low costs. The staff tends to be young and cheerful, and will not expel customers who stay too long. All these considerations, be they aesthetic, architectural, or service-related, have contributed to the remarkably large market share of McDonald‘s in Hong Kong.
In 2006, McDonald‘s began opening 24-hour branches of their restaurant, which quickly attracted more of what is called “McRefugees”. I do not consider myself as one of these McRefugees, as I am not forced to stay. I came to the idea of transforming McDonald‘s into my own personal studio. I would then also have the opportunity to invite different artists to collaborate with me in a sort of artist-in-residence type situation. The video featured in the exhibition shows my first guest artist, Magnhild Fossum, in my McDonald‘s studio.
Exhibition view:
