The robotic Army of Lucky
As we always say here at 3Yen.com: “You Can Never Have Enough Hello Kitty.” And of course, you can never have enough “luck.” So here’s the robotic Army of Lucky Japanese Maneki Neko/Cats!
THE ARMY OF LUCK, OR THE GLOBAL PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
The Maneki Neko (literally in Japanese the “Beckoning Cat”; aka Lucky Cat, Money Cat) is a favorite Japanese figurine to bring luck, attract customers and bring prosperity. The Lucky Cat waves with the raised left paw and holds a historic coin in front of itself with the right one.
The video is of Boris Petrovsky’s one-man show at ABTART, Stuttgart Germany. The installation “The Global Pursuit of Happiness, or: The Army of Luck” contains 520 shiny golden Lucky Cats made of plastic, which are arranged in 40 rows and 13 columns on a ramp-like stand made of aluminum (W 8 m, H 3 m, D 2 m).
The artist Petrovsky writes:
Are the Lucky Cats one-armed bandits? Or is it a gesture in the context of a political or religious movement? Is it a just a happy waving of the fun-loving, hedonistic society? Or is the assembly of Lucky Cats a revolutionary deployment of wish machines« as »army of luck« or is it just another marketing campaign?
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April 23rd, 2012 at 5:09 pm
With all the warnings about the radiation-contaminated food in Japan (NY Times / 2012/01/22), I thought this particular Maneki Neko* (Lucky Cat) is rather apropos…
April 23rd, 2012 at 10:51 pm
Very cool installation. I can totally relate as I’m always preoccupied with the global pursuit of FAPPINESS!!!
May 3rd, 2012 at 7:33 pm
tee minus bah