Wong Ka Long presents the wanderer

Fernando Pessoa is a famous Portuguese poet and author, whose work was acclaimed with its unique poetic quality and philosophy. A prolific writer, Pessoa authored his works with seventy-five “heteronyms”, choosing not to use the term “pseudonyms” to enable their true independent intellectual lives to be represented instead. In his exhibition, local artist Wong Ka Long presents sculptures of Pessoa, that is the outdoor art installation “The Wanderer”, representing the world from the writer’s perspective in order to make him known for more audience.

Sculptures wandering in the same place are and aren’t Pessoa at the same time, resonating to the heteronyms he invented. “In the past, I have been creating many sculptures of characters, but I have always wanted to create sculptures of the three great poets of Portugal. So this work was completed by the invitation of the Cultural Affairs Bureau,” Wong explains.

“I remember last year, I read Pessoa’s “The Book of Uneasy” and learned about the poet’s unique worldview and ideas. I like that he uses multiple identities in his work to interpret different things and appreciate the fact that he can completely express his anxiety and fear through words.

“This series of sculptures are divided into three parts, which are appearances of Pessoa’s stopping, making steps and wandering. The state of ambiguity is presented to express the poet’s abstract thoughts of uneasiness and embarrassment. I hope that the integration of sculpture and THE environment can create a cultural atmosphere throughout the space,” he concludes.

“The Wanderer” was one of the six outdoor art installations of “Art Macao”.