Fake Monster Shark Sighting in Cardiff, CA

Now this is creative:

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

An often-abused statue of a surfer on Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas was turned into a Jaws-dropping artwork early Saturday morning by a group of unknown pranksters. Crowds of gawkers and picture takers nearly created a traffic hazard, as they gathered around the bronze statue, which, sometime in the early morning hours, was entombed inside a 15-foot tall papier-mâché version of a great white shark’s massive snout. ... A large seam along the shark’s jaw indicates it was transported in two large pieces and then stuck together with a foamlike sealer that also made it look like the beast was bursting through the surface of the ocean.


The statue, called "Magic Carpet Ride," was made by artist Matthew Antichevich and erected in 2007 at a cost of $120,000 paid for mostly by the Cardiff Botanical Society. It was said to be the first to honor surfing in San Diego County. But the reaction from local surfers was cool at best, and heated at worst, as they found the surfer to fall short of the macho image they thought their sport should project.


Ever since, the statue, known locally — and derisively — by local surfers as the “Cardiff Kook,” has routinely been dressed in different costumes by snarky locals. At various times, the statue of a young male surfer has been adorned with a ballerina’s tutu and luche libre wrestler’s mask, a woman’s bikini and other costumes, most recently a tennis outfit with racket. But the shark attack took pranks on the statue to a new level.

Click here to learn about the fake shark's creator. Click here to see pictures of other pranks involving the Cardiff Kook. From what I've read, the shark was removed from the Cardiff Kook statue earlier this week.

Since this prank is essentially a three-dimensional rendition of a poster for Jaws or a Jaws rip-off, I'm going to use this opportunity to indulge my love of horror movie art by posting pics of posters and VHS box covers which depict sharks, piranhas, and other hungry denizens of the deep either eating or about to eat helpless humans. Click below for the all-you-can-eat bloody pulp art buffet.