What’s better than a half-naked contemporary Chinese artist with a great sense of humour and abs to die for? How about 14 half-naked contemporary Chinese artists with great senses of humour and abs to die for!
A-maze-ing Laughter was created by bonkers Beijing-based artiste Yue Minjin, a chap so pleased with his own appearance that he created over a dozen clones and dropped them off at Vancouver’s English Bay.
See Yue giggle! See Yue wiggle! Gasp in slack-jawed wonder at the spectacle of Yue throwing gang signs into the crisp British Columbian air! Visitors of all shapes and sizes enjoy frollicking with the Yue-mongous stat-Yues, each of which is three metres tall and weighs over 250kg.
A-maze-ing Laughter is a stunning artwork thats’s both delightfully interactive and surprisingly thought-provoking. The bronzed boys are often dressed in fancy clothes during holidays, and are as much a part of the city’s rich culture as Digital Orca and the World’s Tallest Tin Soldier.
Yue’s built a career on, well, himself. His most famous piece is a collection of photos of his cheery head with different hats on. Another painting depicts three naked Yues wrestling. There’s also a masterpiece that features Noah’s Ark, but with all the animals replaced by chuckling Yues. That’s versatility!
But things aren’t always as jolly as they seem. “A smile doesn’t necessarily mean happiness,” Yue once told a gathering of beret-wearing art critics. “It could be something else.”
Despite Yue’s ominous message, I wasted no time defrocking for a series of playful photos with the statues. The last time I had this much fun with a large group of half-naked Asian men was during my infamous ‘lost weekend’ in Pattaya in the mid-90s.
Laughter is the best med-Yue-cin
If you think Yue looks like a happy chappie, that’s because he was laughing all the way to the bank with this work of art. A-maze-ing Laughter was intended as a temporary display when it was installed in 2009, but proved so popular that the city of Vanc-Yue-ver decided they really, really wanted to keep it.
Yue, who runs against Chinese stereotypes by being obsessed with money, asked for a cool $5 million – or $357,142.86 for each Mega-Me. Vancouver was a city divided – those intelligent and progressive enough to see that 14 statues of a grinning Asian gentleman were exactly what Canadians needed to spur them on to a new era of prosperity and greatness, and idiots who thought the money could be better spent on hospitals and schools and stuff like that.
Tragically, the Boomers won and the city asked Yue to come and pick up his statues. Having just moved into a 25-square-foot studio apartment in the trendy Sanlitun neighbourhood of Beijing, and with his enviable collection of fedoras taking up much of his limited storage space, Yue was forced the people of Vancouver an offer they couldn’t refuse; $1.5 million for the lot.
The deal was made and, finally, the people of Vancouver were able to call this extraordinary example of modern cynical realism their own. Alright, so the Canucks will still have to live with a few less teachers, nurses and firemen, but I think you’ll agree it’s worth it.
Anyone who’s been the lucky recipient of a toothy grin from a Chinaman knows it’s impossible not to smile back – so it’s no wonder Vancouver is such a happy little place to visit!
