\tA renovated ferry, nicknamed “Shanghai Duck,” was given a roaring thumbs-down after it made its first appearance on the waters of Huangpu yesterday.<\/p>\n
\tThe “roasted duck” look was nowhere close to the work of the Dutch artist and even failed to meet the local artistic expectations, netizens moaned.<\/p>\n
\tThe local variant of the duck has a feathered head and roasted body and is part of the government-backed Bund Art Project. It ferries passengers from Jinling Road Dock and will be in service until the end of September.<\/p>\n
\t“The local duck is a tribute and an interpretation of the Dutch version of the yellow duck,” said Han Beishi, the artist and chief designer of the project.<\/p>\n
\tThe Shanghai Duck, also dubbed “Ferry Love” or “Duck Prophet,” is designed in the shape of a Huangpu River ferry. Its head and roasted body was covered by some 10,000 pieces of newspapers and then printed in golden yellow like the “roasted Beijing Duck.”<\/p>\n
\tThe roasted body is a metaphor for this summer’s scorching weather that should remind people on the need to protect the environment, Han explained.<\/p>\n
\tHe said the thousands of newspapers covering the duck implied that “civilization, order and principles will all take a back seat” to entertainment.<\/p>\n
\tThe boat is decked up in LED that will be lit in the night. It has been secured by fire-proof foam plastic materials. Poets and musicians perform onboard in the “belly” of the duck.<\/p>\n
\tBut residents were clearly not impressed when the first pictures of the “Shanghai Duck” appeared online.<\/p>\n
\t“I feel ashamed that a metropolis like Shanghai showcases such a strange artwork … it cannot be called an artwork actually,” a local resident surnamed Ma told Shanghai Daily yesterday.<\/p>\n
\tSome tourists took pictures on the boat with forks and spoons — having a go at the “roasted duck” impression.<\/p>\n
\tThe pictures of the duck boat were reposted thousands of times yesterday on the Weibo.com, the Chinese version of twitter, with nearly all the comments critical of the work.<\/p>\n