“I’ve always said the rubber duck is a yellow catalyst."
July 21, 2013 12:32 PM   Subscribe

Giant rubber duckie artist appalled at imitation giant rubber duckie.Shanzhai does not thrive on creativity, it thrives on reaching those people who can’t reach the original product, either without geographic proximity or monetary power.” (via)
posted by spamandkimchi (17 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
The inevitable Ernie comment.
posted by SPrintF at 12:49 PM on July 21, 2013


I'm not sure how Hoffman can have a "copyright" (surely the term itself is design trademark) on a design simply because he's embiggened the plain old rubber duck, but what he did was art, and very thought provoking and fun art to boot. Sucks that it got commercialized and sold as a normal size rubber duck because that means it's just... a plain old rubber duckie.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:00 PM on July 21, 2013


Ironically, the shanzhai version of the duck is giving more people the opportunity to experience it.

That's not even Alanic.
posted by George_Spiggott at 1:09 PM on July 21, 2013


There's only one rubber duck!
posted by rubber duck at 1:15 PM on July 21, 2013


B-o-o H-o-o
posted by stltony at 1:18 PM on July 21, 2013


Plagiarism: I thought of it first. I stole the idea fair and square.
posted by cccorlew at 1:33 PM on July 21, 2013


Sigh. Yet more yellow duckie journalism.
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:48 PM on July 21, 2013 [3 favorites]


History may not repeat, but it rhymes. Grrrr.
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:50 PM on July 21, 2013


Hoffman on the fake ducks: “If people want the real duck, they have to come to me." He continued, "I’ve always said the rubber duck is a yellow catalyst. Right now what it is showing is that there is a lack of trust in China, and that is an enormous problem . . . If I was a Chinese person, I would revolt. I would really revolt,” he said. “This kills society, this kind of behavior.”

Hoffman on another one of his projects, Courier Cars: "I transformed two normal vans into a courier vans, by copying the fleet marking of TNT and DHL Logistics & Mail. Using the vans is a performance on an almost daily basis, which starts when I make use of it: on the road I greet my 'colleagues', and I park the car as real couriers do. Although I never pay any parking fee and don’t have a parking licence, I never got fined for doing so. This work questions as well as proves the power of a logo in public space."

If the deflation of his original duck in Hong Kong and the subsequent shanzhai copies popping up everywhere turn out to be a planned performance aspect of his Rubber Duck project (complete with counterfeit outrage on the artist's part), then he'll really have my respect as an artist.
posted by freejinn at 2:06 PM on July 21, 2013 [5 favorites]


If I was a Chinese person, I would revolt. I would really revolt

Oh, I think he is already revolting. No being Chinese required at all.
posted by srboisvert at 2:16 PM on July 21, 2013 [1 favorite]


Go China!
posted by jeffburdges at 2:27 PM on July 21, 2013


Rubber Duckie, you're the one
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:37 PM on July 21, 2013 [5 favorites]


Screw this. Call me when a giant fucking Happy Apple starts making its way down the Hudson going "ding...ding...ding...dong" as it floats along.
posted by Muddler at 3:13 PM on July 21, 2013


Hoffman on another one of his projects, Courier Cars: "I transformed two normal vans into a courier vans, by copying the fleet marking of TNT and DHL Logistics & Mail. Using the vans is a performance on an almost daily basis, which starts when I make use of it: on the road I greet my 'colleagues', and I park the car as real couriers do. Although I never pay any parking fee and don’t have a parking licence, I never got fined for doing so. This work questions as well as proves the power of a logo in public space."

The duck is cool, but this sounds asinine. A performance for an audience of one; himself.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 4:53 PM on July 21, 2013


Ceci n'est pas un canard.
posted by anadem at 8:43 PM on July 21, 2013 [3 favorites]


I really enjoyed having my city turned into the set of Batman Returns for a month.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 8:54 PM on July 21, 2013


Cute Duckling Reloaded
posted by homunculus at 4:08 PM on July 22, 2013


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