Provocative questions on coffee sleeves during Art Basel Hong Kong. Randomness or fate? Luck or work? Chance or choice? Bilingual. Collectible. Distributed across Starbucks locations during the fair.

Starbucks is a third place. Not home, not work. Where pivotal moments happen. First dates. Job interviews. Chance encounters. People working on projects that might change their lives.

The questions land because Starbucks is where they actually play out. Coffee shops are where luck meets work. Where chance becomes choice. The sleeve mirrors the moment in real time.

The Partnership Opportunity

Artist collaboration at Art Basel Hong Kong

The only food and beverage brand with a collectible art activation at Art Basel Hong Kong 2026. Exclusive cultural positioning among luxury and art-focused audiences.

Custom sleeves distributed at the convention center and surrounding Starbucks locations during Art Basel week. The artwork doesn't reference Starbucks directly. It operates as a parallel narrative.

This makes it interesting on its own merit—people keep it because the question resonates, not because it's branded. The association happens through context, not logos.

Starbucks locations are third places where chance encounters become meaningful connections. Where strangers become collaborators. Where random meetings turn into partnerships. The questions on the sleeves mirror the moments that naturally unfold in these spaces.

The roastery becomes a site where two networks overlap: Art Basel attendees moving through the convention center, and the broader questions about connection, community, and what makes pivotal moments happen. The sleeve is an artifact of that intersection.

Six Collectible Designs

English Provocations

  • RANDOMNESS OR FATE?
  • LUCK OR WORK?
  • CHANCE OR CHOICE?
  • COINCIDENCE OR DESIGN?
  • ACCIDENT OR DESTINY?
  • TIMING OR EFFORT?
  • CHAOS OR ORDER?
  • FORTUNE OR SKILL?
  • SERENDIPITY OR STRATEGY?
  • PROBABILITY OR PURPOSE?
  • RANDOM OR INTENTIONAL?
  • CIRCUMSTANCE OR DECISION?

Chinese Provocations

  • 隨機還是命運?
  • 運氣還是努力?
  • 偶然還是選擇?
  • 巧合還是設計?
  • 意外還是宿命?
  • 時機還是付出?
  • 混亂還是秩序?
  • 財運還是技能?
  • 機緣還是策略?
  • 概率還是目的?
  • 隨意還是刻意?
  • 環境還是決定?
01

The Sleeve

Provocative question + network diagram. Starbucks green on white. Art Basel week exclusive.

02

The Connection

References Jack's Work vs Luck installation at booth Z01. Sleeve becomes physical extension of the artwork.

03

The Result

Collectible, photographable, shareable. Drives booth traffic. Generates organic content.

Value Proposition

Artist Credibility

Association with Jack Butcher. $1B+ in sales. Press coverage from major art publications.

Organic Content

5,000-10,000 collectible sleeves. Each photographed and shared. Amplified through 1M+ followers.

Measurable

Track sleeves distributed, booth visits, social mentions, earned media.

The Partnership

Starbucks prints custom sleeves. Jack provides artwork. Random distribution during Art Basel week (March 2026).

Why It Works

Replaces standard sleeves with collectible art. Maximum shareability. No additional logistics required.

Opening Night

Artist cocktail party at Art Basel opening. Custom cocktail markers or coasters with provocative questions. Teases the sleeve concept. Guests receive different questions with their drinks. Introduces the Work vs Luck theme before the fair opens. Simple production, natural distribution.

The Unlock

Order a specific drink at participating Hong Kong Starbucks locations during Art Basel week to unlock free fair tickets. Secret menu item tied to the installation. Drives foot traffic to stores. Creates scarcity and exclusivity. Social proof as people discover and share the unlock mechanism.

High visibility. Opening night + five-day activation with fair access unlock.

Six sculptural dice, each showing a single number on every face

Dice with chance removed

Work vs Luck sculptural dice installation

Work vs. Luck, Presented at Art Basel Hong Kong

Six dice. Each one shows a single number on every face. The one shows only ones. The two shows only twos. And so on. Tools shaped like uncertainty, rebuilt as certainty.

At the SILK Art House booth, visitors roll six regular dice. Your result determines which set you take home. Six custom dice pulled to match your exact roll, each locked to its number on every face. Assembled and boxed on the spot. Black and white resin.

Above that, 80 editions in pure silver. The perfect 1-2-3-4-5-6. Cast and hallmarked by the UK Assay Office through Asprey Studio.

Jack Butcher

Digital Artist & Founder

Jack Butcher is the founder of Visualize Value. His digital art projects have generated over $1 billion in secondary sales. He has exhibited at Art Basel Miami Beach and Paris Photo, and collaborated with Oracle Red Bull Racing and Art Blocks. Prior to founding VV, he spent a decade in advertising working for Ferrari, American Express, Oracle, and other major brands.

Jack Butcher's most recent Art Basel booth generated immediate and widespread media coverage. Self Checkout, presented at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025, made the cost of exhibiting completely transparent through a pay-what-you-wish model. 5,837 receipts sold across five days.

The activation generated coverage across Artnet News, The Art Newspaper, and The Gray Market, alongside millions of views in user-generated TikTok and Instagram content. Every receipt, every price reveal, every visitor reaction was filmed and shared organically. The booth became a content engine without paid promotion.

TikTok user-generated content from Self Checkout TikTok user-generated content from Self Checkout

"A fascinating project that makes very visible the substantial cost involved in bringing work to a fair."

Artnet News

"New tech and old names drive sales at Art Basel Miami Beach."

The Art Newspaper

"Every dealer at a Miami fair has been doing this exact calculus in their head all week. Butcher is just making it visible."

The Gray Market

This partnership positions Starbucks within the same earned media framework. Collectible sleeves. Artist association. Organic social amplification. Documented press precedent.

Asprey Studio

The contemporary design arm of Asprey London, est. 1781. Over two centuries of heritage in silversmithing and fine craftsmanship. Producing the silver editions.

SILK Art House

An art house uniting gallery representation with a creative and tech studio. Presenting Work vs. Luck at Art Basel Hong Kong 2026.

Starbucks

Artist partnership. Custom sleeves at the Art Basel Roastery. Distribution partner for network art at the convention center.