Ocean Park snow globes. But with the idea of utopia in dire need of some serious effective therapy if it is stay alive, to paraphrase Fredric Jameson; perhaps what is simply being pointed out by Cheung’s Devil’s Advocate is that the present world and its visions for the future are ultimately entirely of human design.

This essay was written for the exhibition catalogue Star Fairy: Hong Kong in Venice, 52nd Venice Biennale, published by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, 2007.

Alice Ming Wai Jim is Assistant Professor of Contemporary Art in the Department of Art History at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada; formerly Curator of the Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Centre A (2003–2006). Her writings have appeared in books, exhibition catalogues, and journals.