Hong Kong’s Bouncy ‘Wonders’ Leave Some Wondering, ‘Why?’

With darkness falling along Hong Kong’s waterfront against a backdrop of glimmering skyscrapers, carnival music competed with the whine of ventilation blowers as visitors bounced on the inflatable Stonehenge.

The puffy white megalithic replica was part of an installation put up this month for SummerFest, a public outdoor festival that continues for several weeks. Like its companions, including Egyptian pyramids and the giant faces of Easter Island, it was based on A.I.-generated images dreamed up by Joann, an Armenian designer who has created whimsical, surreal pop-up exhibits for clients like Gucci, Marc Jacobs and Oatly Ice Cream.

The exhibit, “Inflatable Wonders,” has attracted crowds. It has also elicited mockery, as well as stirred discussion about cultural sensitivity and about what gets to be considered art versus crass commercialism, pandering to mass tastes. Some people have also been asking why more local artists aren’t being used for projects like this one.

White is a color associated with death in East Asia, and the shapes of the Stonehenge have drawn comparisons to tombstones. As space for free expression has shrunk in Hong Kong in recent years, dimming its luster as a cosmopolitan gateway, efforts to lure tourists or generate civic pride have at times struck a note of desperation or simply oddness.

The exhibit has also raised questions about whether inflatables, a growing presence in the art world, deserve to be taken seriously.

On a recent evening, some who lounged on the Stonehenge were fans. “I think this is fun and nice to look at,” said Cai Zhijian, a 45-year-old freelance photographer visiting from Fuzhou, a city in mainland China’s Fujian Province, carrying a selfie stick. “You can relax here.”