Two 4-feet tall maneki neko cats folded out of the Asian Art Museum’s old letterhead, installed on two outdoor platforms on the Target Free Sunday at the Museum. A free gift from free paper for the visitors on the free day. A collaborative piece between Charlene Tan and SpaceBi.
Within moments, the visitors to the museum started taking pictures, children were running up to the sculptures, and we were being asked if this was an “official museum sanctioned event” by museum staff. Although originally intended as a gift to the front of the museum, to appease the institutional anxiety, I promised we would not leave them and take the cats with us after we took a few pictures.
Upon deinstalling, I could hear , “Awwww, why are they taking away the cats” from the families in line.
No better way to describe this project than the Chinese Phrase: 纸老虎 (paper tiger) meaning something that seems as threatening as a tiger, but is really harmless.
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