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Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel laughed off the idea of suing the authorities of a Chinese city for allegedly copying the famous Cloud Gate sculpture in the Windy City’s Millenium Park, built by Indo-British artist Anish Kapoor. The decade-old landmark sculpture shaped like a bean, reflects the Chicago skyline.
On Aug. 12 news reports surfaced about a similar creation in stainless steel shaped like a bean, in the northwestern city of Karamay in China, reflecting the sky and surroundings. Kapoor bristled at the imitation and called it “blatant plagiarism” saying “The Chinese authorities must act to stop this kind of infringement,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
In a statement reported in artnews.com, Kapoor said, “It seems that in China today it is permissible to steal the creativity of others. I feel I must take this to the highest level and pursue those responsible in the courts. I hope that the Mayor of Chicago will join me in this action. The Chinese authorities must act to stop this kind of infringement and allow the full enforcement of copyright.”
But Emanuel shrugged off the request when asked about it Aug. 14. “‘Imitation is the greatest form of flattery’ is what I would say. And if you want to see original artwork like this or like the Bean, you come to Chicago,” Emanuel is quoted saying in the Sun-Times.
Kapoor shot off a retort saying he was surprised by the mayor’s brush-off. Kapoor said he felt like an honorary citizen of Chicago and as such, “Cloud Gate, ‘The Bean’, has been a major feature of Chicago’s landscape for over a decade and has helped keep in view Chicago’s vision of itself as the most modern city in America, if not the world. I am therefore astonished at your statements about the Chinese copy of the sculpture Cloud Gate as that of an act of flattery.”
He demanded what the mayor would call it flattery when the Chinese copied the work of other businesses and innovators from Chicago. “Creativity in all walks of life is hard won. It is incorrect to accept that we should allow for it to be undermined or stolen and therefore give it little or no value. Chicago will lose from this thievery. We cannot let this happen,” Kapoor insisted, the Wall Street Journal reported.
A Karamay city official said the bean in his city was different in shape and meaning and the resemblance was purely coincidental, the Journal reported. “The idea of the oil bubble comes from the Black Oil Mountain, which is a natural oil well in Karamay,” Ma Jun, head of Karamay Tourism Bureau is quoted saying in Wall Street Journal’s blog, China Real Time, “You can’t say we’re not allowed to build a round sculpture because there already is a round one.”
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