This is not a trick of perspective. This genuinely is a
massive, 6-storey high rubber duck.
It arrived in HK harbour this week, amidst much fuss and
fanfare, and has been a hugely popular talking point since. As you may be able
to see in one of these pictures, it attracts throngs if people near the Star
Ferry, where it is moored, who come to take pictures and generally gawp. We joined
the gawpers by insisting our junk on Saturday swung past it, so everyone could
pose for photos. For more on the duck and a better view of it, take a look at
this link… http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/may/02/giant-rubber-duck-hong-kong-video
I was amused and a little eye-rolling to hear that the
artist who created it has some fairly high-minded ideas about the significance and
meaning of the massive duck. I paraphrase, but he essentially said that it is
meant to show that the seas are our ‘global bath tub’, that this makes everyone
family and we should all just, you know, be more responsible and, like, get
along?
Please.
I really wish he’d just said – “What can I say – it’s a
massive duck! It’s funny! It’s different! Who cares what it means, people love
it, look at them all crowding the banks of the harbour just to stare at it!
Wahey!”
Ironically, the crowds taking its picture are very jostly
and keen to get the best spot. So where he tried to sow the seeds or harmony,
he bred discord.
Should we, then, get rid of it? Nah, let’s not throw the
duck out with our globally shared bathwater.
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