Rubber duck

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Sydney , 2013

Rubber Duck (English for rubber duck ) was the name of a public art project by the Dutch Florentijn Hofman in the years 2007 and 2014. It consisted of gigantic and buoyant art objects, closely yellow rubber duck (commonly Quietscheentchen called) are modeled individually in many cities of the world were on display. The largest sculpture was 26 m × 20 m × 32 m and was presented at one of his first exhibitions in 2007 in the French port city of Saint-Nazaire .

Idea and technology

With his action, which he described as “Spreading joy around the world”, the artist wants to make it possible for everyone who sees his ducks in relation to the surrounding objects to feel reminded of his childhood. “I see it as an adult thing. It makes you feel young again. It connects to your childhood days, when there was no stress or economic pressure to pay not worry the rent. " .

The giant ducks, depending on their size, were glued together from up to 200 individual rubber-coated PVC pieces. The installation was kept in shape when inflated by the internal pressure alone; H. there are no other supporting elements installed. Only a stable base plate was used which, among other things , should prevent it from tipping over . In addition, tow ropes and basic weights could be attached to it. For example, in Hong Kong (spring 2013, object height 16.5 meters), with a base plate diameter of 13.75 m and a dead weight of around 500 kg, there were three cement blocks with a weight of three tons that put the giant rubber duck in the desired location Fixed port. There was usually an entry opening to allow maintenance personnel access for inspection or repair purposes. A blower built into the particularly large objects ensured that it could be inflated at any time and that the internal pressure was automatically maintained.

Financing was provided through sponsorship , art project financing by the respective city, the sale of pictures or souvenirs or the sale of the object material made into handbags after the exhibition.

Exhibitions

In 2007 the first ducks were exhibited in public. So u. a. in Amsterdam , Baku , Lommel , Osaka , Sydney Harbor , São Paulo and Hong Kong .

The first exhibition in the US was from September 27th to October 20th, 2013 in Pittsburgh . More than a million people visited the duck in Pittsburgh harbor.

From May 17 to May 26, 2014, it accompanied the reopening of the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk , Virginia .

In mid-October 2014, a Hofman duck, swimming in Seokchon Lake , adorned the opening of new sections of the Lotte World theme park in Seoul . The Lotte Group sponsored the exhibition. During the exhibition, the art object lost its stability for a few hours due to a defect in the built-in air compressor.

Other exhibitions (selection)

( bracketed sizes in meters, L × W × H )

  • Saint-Nazaire , France, 2007 (26 × 20 × 32)
  • São Paulo , Brazil, 2008 (12 × 14 × 16)
  • Nuremberg , April 3 to May 4, 2008, Germany (5 × 5 × 6) (as part of the animal and human exhibition project )
  • Hasselt , Belgium, May 30 to October 4, 2009 (12 × 14 × 16) (the material of the duck was then made into handbags and sold)
  • Osaka , Japan, December 2010 (10 × 11 × 13)
  • Auckland , New Zealand, February 2011 (12 × 14 × 16)
  • Onomichi , Japan, 2012 (10 × 11 × 13)
  • Hasselt, Belgium, August 6 to August 19, 2012 (12 × 14 × 16)
  • Sydney , Australia, January 2013 (13 × 14 × 15)
  • Tsim Sha Tsui in Yau Tsim-Mong- - District of Hong Kong , 2 May to 9 June 2013 (19.2 × 16.5 × 16.5)
  • Pittsburgh , USA, September 2013 (14 × 15 × 16.5)
  • Beijing , China, September 2013 (14 × 15 × 18)
  • Baku , Azerbaijan, September 2013 (12 × 14 × 16)
  • Kaohsiung , Taiwan, September 2013 (21 × 18 × 18)
  • Taoyuan , Taiwan, October 26, 2013 (25 × 18 × 18)
  • Keelung , Taiwan, December 20, 2013 (25 × 18 × 18)
  • Parramatta , Australia, Jan. 10-19 January 2014 (13 × 14 × 15)
  • Ho Chi Minh City , Vietnam, April 27 - May 31, 2014 (22 × 20 × 16)
  • Norfolk , USA, May 17-26, 2014 (14 × 15 × 16.5)
  • Hangzhou , China, May 30 - July 15, 2014 (25 × 18 × 18)
  • Los Angeles , USA, August 2014 (33 × 18 × 26)
  • Vancouver , Canada, August 2014 (13 × 14 × 15)
  • Seoul , South Korea, October 14, 2014 - November 14, 2014 (16.5 × 19.8 × 16.5), support for the opening of a shopping center
  • Shanghai , China, October 23, 2014 - November 23, 2014

Incidents

In 2009, during the exhibition in the Belgian city of Hasselt, the art object was damaged by vandals with 42 knife wounds.

At an exhibition in Hong Kong on May 15, 2013, the supporting air was let out of the duck for repair and maintenance purposes. Since the reason was not publicly communicated in advance, the highly visible image of the supposedly severely damaged art installation led to concerned sympathy from visitors and residents.

After a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Taiwan, the power went out and the compressors that were supposed to maintain air pressure inside the duck could not work. This led to a loss of pressure and, through strong gusts of wind during the renewed inflation, to the partial destruction of the art installation.

On July 16, 2014, masses of water that fell after days of rain in the Guizhou region washed away an 18-meter-high Hofman duck. It was exhibited in Guiyang City . A replacement was brought in after just a few days.

Internet censorship in China

As of June 4, 2013, Sina Weibo , China's most popular microblogging service , blocked the search terms “Today”, “Tonight” (or “Tonight”), “ June 4 ”, and “Big Yellow Duck”. As soon as these words were searched for, a message appeared that the results of the search could not be displayed “due to legal requirements”. The term "Big Yellow Duck" was censored because of an edited version of Tank Man circulating on Twitter , in which the tanks were replaced by the popular giant ducks. (see also Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China )

gallery

  • Baku , 2013

  • Osaka, 2014

Web links

Commons : Rubber Duck by Florentijn Hofman  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kate Whitehead: Hong Kong's giant rubber duck. In: CNN International . Turner Broadcasting System , May 2, 2013, accessed March 12, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Flyer with technical background for the Rubber Duck exhibition in Hong Kong , spring 2013 (English)
  3. ^ Hofman's Rubber Ducky Travels the World. Ecogreenglobe.com, April 25, 2012, accessed March 12, 2016 .
  4. ^ Anna-Lena Roth: Art Festival in Australia: The 500-kilo duck. Der Spiegel , January 3, 2013, accessed on March 12, 2016 .
  5. ^ Michael A. Fuoco: Giant rubber ducky quacking tonight in Pittsburgh. In: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 27, 2013, accessed March 12, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Elizabeth Bloom: Duck marks last days; lovable bird to be moved, cleaned, deflated Sunday. In: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. October 19, 2013, accessed March 12, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Giant rubber duck to arrive in Seoul. The Korea Times , October 10, 2014, accessed March 13, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Reera Yoo: Giant Rubber Duck Goes Flat in Seoul. In: KoreAm Journal. October 10, 2014, accessed March 13, 2016 .
  9. ^ Exhibition "Animal and Human" from April 3 to May 4, 2008
  10. ↑ Giant rubber ducky quacking tonight in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 27, 2013, accessed March 12, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Laura Zhou: Beijing prepares for bigger, better rubber duck than Hong Kong. South Chinaorning Post, August 29, 2013, accessed March 12, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Olivia B. Waxman: Rubber Duck Finds Permanent Home in Taiwan. TIME, July 25, 2013, accessed March 12, 2016 .
  13. ↑ Hiufu Wong, CNN: Giant duck conquers Taiwan. In: CNN . September 24, 2013, accessed March 12, 2016 .
  14. ↑ CFP: Giant Rubber Duck waits in wings in Hangzhou. (No longer available online.) China Daily, May 13, 2014, archived from the original on May 31, 2014 ; accessed on March 12, 2016 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / usa.chinadaily.com.cn
  15. ↑ Tall ships parade, giant yellow duck greeted warmly by thousands along San Pedro Waterfront. August 20, 2014, accessed March 12, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Rubber Duck Project Seoul ( Memento from January 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ↑ Giant Rubber Duck Graces Shanghai. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 10, 2016 ; accessed on March 12, 2016 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / english.cntv.cn
  18. ↑ a b Fowl play? Giant rubber duck drowns in Hong Kong. In: CNN Travel. May 15, 2013, accessed May 27, 2013 .
  19. ^ Giant rubber duck bursts in Taiwan. In: BBC Media. December 31, 2013, accessed March 12, 2016 .
  20. ↑ China: Giant yellow rubber duck swept away in flood - BBC News. In: BBC News. July 17, 2014, accessed March 12, 2016 .
  21. ↑ https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BL2W3nYCAAApzKE.jpg:large photo days censored in China
  22. ↑ Censored in China: 'Today,' 'Tonight' and 'Big Yellow Duck'. In: IHT. International New York Times , June 4, 2013, accessed March 12, 2016 .