香港社會中有一股龐大力量，推崇着以名牌商標打造個人身份的「與眾不同(uniqueness)」。但吊詭的是，個人往往以大量生產得一模一樣的商品(commodity)，建構「自我(self)」。產品(products)在工廠流水作業式的生產線生產，只是單一化的商品。個人又何以能以相同的商品，表現自己的獨特性？於是名牌以廣告為商品製造了附加價值讓大家對它趨之若鶩。你或會反問「難道我們要停止消費？不可能吧！」但我們可否在消費主義中尋找另一出路？文化研究系畢業，喜愛寫作的「紅眼」，他在《鐵甲萬能俠大戰柯柏文》以個人購買玩具的經驗，講述了另一種的消費模式。消費社會也不一定只是逛商場消費，作為視覺文化資訊的CULTaMAP今期提供視藝潮流好去處給大家。近年鬧市出現很多Art Jam樓上畫室，是寓娛樂於創作的「萌」地。此外，Art也把三間大學的學生Jam在一起，自行籌劃了多媒體藝術展。可喜可賀，在此公諸於世，以作鼓勵。還有，近日香港文化藝術圈也有很多對名牌、藝術與消費間的討論，甚至干擾(jamming)的行動很值得CULTaMAP向讀者提供更多資訊，了解當下香港社會的情況。

There is a huge strength respecting the ‘uniqueness’ built by brand-name trademarks in Hong Kong. But the ambiguity is, individuals usually use commodities which are produced massively to construct the unique ‘self’. The products of assembly-line production in factories are made exactly the same but ironically people employ them to emphasize their exclusivity. Therefore, brand labels add in additional value in the advertisements to entice customers. You may ask, “How can we stop consuming goods? That’s impossible!” However, can we find our way out in consumerism? Red Eye, graduated from the department of cultural studies. In his article ‘Mazinger Z VS. Optimus Prime’, he narrates another consumption patterns with the illustration of his personal experience in buying toys.

Consumer society is not necessarily about going to malls for shopping. As a provider of information about visual culture, CULTaMAP offers some nice spots to art lovers: upstairs Art Jam studios in downtown integrate entertainment into artwork creation. Moreover, art jams the students from 3 different universities. They co-organize their multi-media art exhibition. We are grateful to publicize as well as encourage their utmost. In addition, there are controversies over the relationship of brand-names and art in the local culture and art field. The recent actions of jamming art are also worth reporting. The aforementioned are covered in details in this volume of CULTaMAP for you to grasp the latest scope of Hong Kong society.