Big Underpants Illustrated
In the entry of the building where TIME's Hong Kong offices are located, there is a statue of a man squatting on a pedestal. Presumably the artist envisioned a work depicting a person deep in thought. To anyone who has used a squat toilet in China, the statue clearly depicts a man engaged in one of life's necessary activities. Whether he's deep in thought is incidental. (I've often wondered what sort of message the building owners intended by placing that statue where hundreds of workers must walk beneath it daily, but that's another story.)
I was reminded of the squatting man by a series of illustrations comparing China Central Television's new Beijing tower with a man engaged in the same necessary activity, albeit with the aid of Western toilet. As we wrote earlier, the revolutionary building has been nicknamed "Big Underpants." The state broadcaster is apparently unhappy with the inelegant nickname for its stunning new building, and is backing a search for an alternative. That's only made things worse, and prompted an online campaign in defense of "Big Underpants." Danwei.org reported yesterday that the Shanghai press has now taken up the story.
In the face of such attention, CCTV should embrace the earthy sobriquet. As the illustration below hints, the alternatives could be much worse:
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[...] I’ve seen numerous photos of this new Chinese skyscraper, but haven’t mentioned it yet. The nationals have humorously nicknamed the China Central Television building “big underpants.” Let this be a warning to designers. The structure is really the most simple of forms; it’s only innovative because of the scale and structural challenge. But even out of this simple form, people are making simple (and banal) associations. I suppose I can see it, but when a person looks at the Sears Tower don’t they see it’s inspiration more easily, a pack of cigarettes? And I’ve never heard anyone refer to the Sears Tower as anything but the Sears Tower. Via China Hope Live [...]
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As a matter of fact, the nickname "big underpants" is a sneer and a hostility to the government, which rather costs billions to glaze their face while ignoring the absolute poverty in everywhere.
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LinkLuv: Never heard anyone called the Sears Tower a pack of cigarettes ? Now you do.
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The shape of this wonderful building is simply too abstract for people of low intelligence to bend their minds around. Therefore, they start imagining that it looks like a 'real' object, to make sense of it all. I guess, Rorschach would probably conclude that Chinese have dirty minds. I wonder what they think of the London 2012 logo.
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Sure there are many people having "Low intelligence" and "dirty minds" who are selling their conscience and soul to the murderous regime.
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