The ‘Happy Heads’, an outdoor installation placed in Praça de Jorge Alvares in Nam Van, was damaged by strong winds and temporarily removed for safety reasons, according to the creators of the artwork.
The Happy Heads were created by a Brussels-based French and Chinese duo Benoît + Bo, who set their artwork up last month outside the New Yaohan Department Store. Their installation was one of the many projects that are part of the government’s six-month “Art Macao”, a festival of all things art in Macau ending in October.
However, one of the giant heads was damaged by adverse weather conditions a few days ago, while the other was removed yesterday, according to the artists, who said they were informed by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) on Monday that the first one was damaged by strong winds. The other one was taken down for safety reasons yesterday, Benoît + Bo told The Macau Post Daily via WhatsApp.
“A new one (stronger than the previous one) is coming. You [residents] will discover the new figure soon. But the [Cultural Affairs Bureau] said that the city is expecting some strong winds this week. Therefore, [we] will set up the new figures after July 6,” according to the message from the duo.
The duo added that they were expecting less wind after Saturday. The artists pointed out that the newly designed figure will be made using the same material, which is Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), but will be “sicker [better] than the previous one”.
Public reaction to the two giant Happy Heads has been mixed.
In a WhatsApp follow-up message to The Macau Post Daily the duo said they will only replace one of the Happy Heads (the damaged one), while the other will remain the same, adding that the new one will also be a Happy Head.
While some residents and tourists have welcomed the “funny” installation, others have said that they were scared of the “ghostly” artwork. Some even speculated that the installation was put up in the run-up to next month’s Ghost Festival.(Macaunews)
