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“Also, it’s hard to be racist in New York. It’s made up of so many cultures. It’s very similar to Vancouver that way. But the Mexicans and Puerto Ricans have it tougher. Asian artists are also a hot thing right now—but only if you make art that looks Oriental, which I do not.” Interestingly enough, he doesn’t fit into the Asian art scene because of that.
    Wong does not hide his Asian-Canadian roots, however. Some can recognize him as being Canadian from miles away. “They hear it in my words: about, process, eh ?” Because of New York’s diversity, people just assume he’s a local rather than someone fresh off the boat. “Growing up, my mom made us proud to be Chinese,” he says. “We went to Chinese school every day, and I hated it, but now I really appreciate it ’cause I can read and write it. I used to say that English was my second language because we grew up speakingChinese at home.”
    Previously using the moniker “Tofu Boy,” Wong believes that his ability to create something over and over again by hand comes from his heritage. He attributes the skills of mass production, patience, and repetition to being Asian. “It’s that Zen ability,” he says. “I find it calming, and I can make a million of the same thing in my art project and find it very therapeutic. Hand-crafted as opposed to machine-made. I never used to believe in crap like that, but I feel it’s in my blood.”
    There is one hurdle, however, that Wong has trouble getting over. He confides:
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  I fight the appearance of looking young—like many Asians—but I’ve got a head full of ideas that I want people to see instead. I hate having my photo taken. People are ageist. I want my work to represent my maturity. Hopefully, puberty will hit soon.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  It’s so fucking obvious that the good-looking people get more attention. They are listened to even if they have little intelligence. I fight it every day. I don’t want to be cute. But I have no choice. So sometimes I try to use it. But my work is actually too serious to toy with that way.
    So how did he end up toying with others by selling these dreams in a bag? Wong explains that in New York, people aren’t allowed to sell anything that’s considered a “product” on the street. For instance, musicians who make their own CDs, or artists who make their own jewellery, cannot sell their wares on the sidewalk. It is considered competition for the stores. “There was one week where they were all arrested,” Wong tells me. “I wanted to put something out that was confusing,” he says. “The dreams were something in betweenproduct and art, and I didn’t get arrested.”
    When asked about his home, Wong admits: “I do miss Vancouver. Friends and family. The mountains and the water. The politeness. The slow pace.” But for now, he is content to stand in the middle of Soho, thinking up ideas to peddle, in a city built on dreams.
    Check out Tobias Wong’s website: brokenoff.com . [Note: this website hasn’t been updated since before Wong’s death in 2010.]
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  A UTHOR C OMMENTARY
    I miss Tobias [who died in 2010]. I always found him mischievous, intelligent, and funny. I think those qualities are reflected in his art. When I interviewed him for this article, he was just becoming the darling of the New York art scene and making a splash internationally. Even in death, though, controversy swirled around him. He had suffered for years from a sleep disorder and ended up hanging himself while sleepwalking. Retrospectives of his work have been showcased at the San Francisco MOMA and at the Museum of Vancouver, which did an amazingly thorough exhibit for the homecoming king. Whether he is destined to be known