The Rubber Duck craze yesterday continued to sweep Taoyuan County in the second day of the inflatable sculpture’s display at a festival, with people lining up early in the morning long before opening hours.
People began to gather at the site in Hsinwu Township (新屋) at about 6am, with some sneaking into the controlled zone to get a close-up view of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman’s duck, which has been installed in a pond.
After the exhibition opened at 9am, the trail along the pond was quickly packed with crowds, reflecting an enthusiasm that organizers said would push visitor numbers to more than 200,000 on the first day.
Photo: Lee Jung-ping, Taipei Times
The duck went on display on Saturday as part of a landscape art festival, attracting more than the 200,000 people on opening day on Saturday.
The Taoyuan Land and Open Art Festival features artwork by local and international artists, on display across the county’s pond-dotted landscape.
Among the installations are a series of pink polka-dot inflatables called Footprints of Life, by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, and plastic sculptures of lotuses by South Korean Choi Jeong-hwa.
Displays by Taiwanese artists include woven straw art, robot sculptures made from recycled iron by Cheng Ping-ho (鄭炳和) and installations made from discarded furniture by a group of students led by artist Julie Chou (周靈芝).
Hofman’s Rubber Duck attracted 3.9 million visitors during its month-long stay in Kaohsiung Harbor that ended on Oct. 20.
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