The yellow rubber duck in Keelung gets a fresh clean and shines bright to greet visitors again

By MOOK Travel & Lifestyle Network Editorial Team

 

The Keelung yellow rubber duck event, which kicked off on December 21, has seen no shortage of drama, with the "dirty duck" moment being the hardest for fans to bear. Due to diesel black smoke emitted by nearby vessels around the Ocean Plaza where the Keelung yellow duck was stationed, along with surrounding air pollution, the exhibit was covered in black grime after just one week on display. To give the duck a bath, and with the consent of its creator Florentijn Hofman, staff carried out a scrubbing session on December 25. However, even after breaking a brush, the effort proved ineffective. After repeated discussions and dry runs by the organizers, they finally came up with an eco-friendly yet effective method to remove the oil stains. On December 28, the second duck-cleaning show began in Keelung. But because the duck is so massive, it couldn't be cleaned in a single day, so the washing continued until yesterday.

On the morning of December 28 at 08:30, staff gathered at Pier 18 West to prepare equipment. The platform work vessel and tow truck were positioned, and cleaning agents and brushes were readied. Over ten staff members then set off from the platform work vessel toward Ocean Plaza. As the platform vessel approached the main body of the duck, it dropped anchor to ensure the safety of workers scrubbing the duck amidst any vessel movement. At that point, the tow truck on the platform vessel hoisted up the cleaning personnel, who had put on multiple layers of protective gear, to begin cleaning the duck’s face, body, sides, and finally its back.

 

However, due to the enormous size of the yellow duck and poor weather conditions in Keelung that day, the originally planned two-hour cleaning session could not be completed as scheduled. This left the yellow duck looking like a "black-and-white character," so the cleaning was extended into yesterday (the 29th), with additional personnel joining the effort to restore the duck's fresh original appearance. Yet the parts cleaned the day before gradually became dirty again due to the surrounding environment, so the duck will also receive irregular cleanings in the future.

 

Taking a broad view of the Yellow Rubber Duck’s three-city Taiwan tour, many netizens consider the Kaohsiung leg to have been the most flawless event, while Taoyuan and Keelung faced different issues such as power lines and oil stains. However, if we consider the original creative vision of Florentijn Hofman and his thoughts on exhibition environments, it doesn’t really matter which city did better or had more problems. Take the "three lines" incident with the Taoyuan yellow duck, for example. Hofman once emphasized that the duck’s journey around the world is about going with the flow and blending into local settings—there’s no need for the environment to adapt to the duck. He also said that everyone can find their own most pleasing angle from which to view the duck.

 

Similarly, Keelung’s "dirty duck" indeed revealed the state of the local environment, and the fans who specifically traveled to Keelung to watch and photograph the yellow duck’s cleaning process showed that there’s more than one way to appreciate the duck. This not only showcases the diversity of perspectives in finding the most pleasing views of the duck but also provides duck fans with a deeper opportunity to reflect on environmental protection. Through the "dirty duck" incident, people can understand the interaction between art and the natural environment through their own immediate experiences. By encountering the yellow duck, one also comes to recognize the beauty and differences of different environments, and to strive to protect or improve those environments. Perhaps this is the most valuable gift the yellow duck has given to the people of Taiwan.

 

 

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Visiting Keelung to see the yellow duck? Riding the painted train is the perfect choice

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