Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to Feature Takashi Murakami Balloons~

This year’s Thanksgiving parade in New York will feature two balloons designed by Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami:

Kaikai, a childlike character in a rabbit costume, and Kiki, a companion with three eyes and sharp fangs, are examples of Mr. Murakami’s signature superflat style, but their balloon likenesses will be about 40 feet long when completed, and about three stories tall when filled with helium. Since the spring, Macy’s parade studio and Mr. Murakami and his Tokyo-based team have traded notes on two-dimensional sketches that were used to create clay models, which were then further refined and colored before the fabrication of the balloons (now underway)~

In other Murakami-related news, a group of French cultural traditionalists are protesting a plan to display some of the artist’s works at Versailles. They seem to think that Murakami’s weird artwork would degrade the beauty of the palace~

via : artsbeat