Choi Gor
Hong Kong-based multidisciplinary artist Kacey Wong creates socially engaged videos and photographic series in which he uses disguise and role-play. He started doing this when public protest grew increasingly dangerous as the Chinese Communist Party intensified its crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. Among his recurring personas is Choi Gor (Brother Choi), a middle-aged gangster from the ‘old world’ who fights for justice, true to the ideals of classic martial arts novels and old Westerns.
In this one-take homage to the archetypal Western hero, Wong, wearing a wig and Ray-Ban sunglasses, steps into character amid unfolding real-life events. Choi Gor, as befits a cowboy, meets danger with steel in his eyes while those around him flee from the approaching threat of the police. Fact and fiction blur, and Hong Kong becomes at once a perilous place and a magnificent film set. The video’s cinematic style is heightened by a period score and graphic design reminiscent of 1960s and 70s movies.