When the city of Cardiff-by-th-Sea decided they wanted a statue of a surfer to adorn their city, they hired Matthew Antichevich an artist from Hemet (an inland city 45 miles from The Coast). The statue he delivered has received nothing but heckling since it was unveiled.
Critics say the figure is too spindly, his feet are positioned wrong and his hands are absolutely goofy. Rather than an embodiment of the athletic artistry that is integral to the sport’s mystique, the figure looks like a beginner about to fall off his board. “Surfing is a dance,” said Pezman. “This figure just offends the surf culture. If you did a statue of a ballet dancer, you wouldn’t have the dancer in a position that is all wrong.”
Local surfers have been dressing the statue up. It’s had a bikini top on, a pink shirt, a Mexican wrestling mask and most recently a black hood to make it look like the “the infamous Abu Ghraib photo” of a prisoner standing on a box. We’ll see how long the statue survives. . . it may not be long.
[Link: The LA Times]
