30 Facts About Kacey Wong

Kacey Wong is politically engaged through his art, and is founding member of art-activist groups Art Citizens and the Umbrella Movement Art Preservation.

Kacey Wong emigrated to Taiwan in July 2021 due to the crackdown in Hong Kong under the national security law.

Kacey Wong's chosen name "Kacey" is derived from the initials of his Chinese name.

Kacey Wong was admitted to Cornell University, from where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Architecture.

Kacey Wong has practiced internationally as an architect and artist.

Kacey Wong's sculptures explore philosophical ideas that engage the body of the viewer.

Kacey Wong holds a master's degree in Sculpture at Chelsea College of Arts.

Kacey Wong obtained his Doctorate in Fine Arts from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2003.

Kacey Wong later became Assistant professor in the school of design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, until 2015.

In 2003, Kacey Wong was bestowed the Rising Artist Award by the Hong Kong Arts Council and Outstanding Arts Education Award.

Kacey Wong says his self-awareness, and what Hong Kong represents to him, stem from the years he spent abroad.

Kacey Wong says that only by living amidst a second culture can one fully come to realise what one represents and where one belongs.

In 2008, Kacey Wong created Wandering Home, an installation consisting of a mobile home conceptualised on city living and the homeless, which was shown at the Venice Biennale of Architecture.

In 2008, Kacey Wong created Tin Man No 11, an essay in space in the form of a metallic robot that transforms into a bed.

Kacey Wong extended the concept by creating Famiglia Grande, a series of transformable cases.

Kacey Wong said that, as the square foot price is [an astronomical] HK$55,555, Paddling Home is an ironic statement comparing the perils of owning a glitzily- and glossily-packaged high end residence to being on the high seas.

Kacey Wong became interested in environmentalism through visiting a waste reprocessing centre in Hong Kong, and realising just how little was recycled.

In 2010, Kacey Wong curated "Memory of the Forest", a collection of animal sculptures by himself and 13 students made using discarded wood, which symbolises the animals' lost habitats.

Kacey Wong contributed a similar "Mega Musical Art Piece" to the 2012 Hong Kong Cleanup campaign in the form of an octopus.

Kacey Wong cites his political awakening being in 2011, following the arrest of mainland artist Ai Weiwei.

Since then, Kacey Wong has become known for his highly visible displays at public demonstrations drawing attention to Hong Kong's political situation.

Fond of quoting Ai, Kacey Wong believes that art and politics are indissociable, and that no art is completely without political connotation.

Kacey Wong sees art as one of the organic elements in the mix of political movements, playing an indirect and auxiliary role.

Kacey Wong was highly active during the Umbrella Revolution: he held a contest for the best logo to elevate awareness and generate more concern for the demand for "real universal suffrage" for Hong Kong.

Kacey Wong co-founded Umbrella Movement Art Preservation, to make an inventory of works and their locations at protest sites, aiming to rescue key pieces before police clearances.

At a march protesting at the disappearances of the staff of Causeway Bay Books in 2015, Kacey Wong symbolically constructed a red gallows carrying the Chinese characters for "abduction", bound himself with red rope and gagged himself with red duct tape.

Kacey Wong co-founded Street Design Union to study and advance the role of artists and designers in the socio-political sphere.

Kacey Wong chose to adopt him over other cats because he was unique.

In July 2021, Kacey Wong emigrated to Taiwan, without telling anyone.

Kacey Wong wrote that Taiwan's vibrant cultural scene allowed him opportunities for growth.