Tens of thousands of people have flooded into Harbour City to catch a glimpse of the giant rubber duck, with many posting pictures of the inflatable artwork online.
But does taking pictures of the duck give one a meaningful art experience? M+ Museum's executive director Lars Nittve has this to say: "Lots of people take pictures of Donald Duck, too. But that doesn't help you to understand it better."
The chief of the contemporary visual culture museum to be built in West Kowloon made the remark after announcing that "Inflation!", a free exhibition of six giant inflatables, had drawn 140,000 visitors. The event ends its seven-week run tomorrow.
The display on the West Kowloon promenade - which includes US artist Paul McCarthy's poo sculpture called - coincided with the visit of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman's at Harbour City.
Both artworks were popular with fans, but also had their share of critics. The poo sculpture was just disgusting, some said, while others said the duck was nothing more than an enlarged version of the children's bath toy. "It's an important moment for art life in Hong Kong," said Nittve. "The public has started to think about what is art and what isn't."
For the museum chief, the answer is simple - anything by an artist who has undergone art training is considered art. So, clearly both McCarthy's and Hofman's work pass the test.
