The Cardiff Kook, originally named the “Magic Carpet Ride” by artist Matthew Antichevich, is a statue created to honor the surfers of San Diego County. These local surfers, however, dubbed the Cardiff Kook, due to its awkward stance. In surfer terms a kook is person who cannot surf well and/or have a terrible style. Since its creation this Kook has been a target to a series of pranks. The Cardiff Kook has been attacked by a pterodactyl, dressed up as the “Surfing Madonna,” wore a wedding dress in celebration of the royal wedding, placed in San Diego State basketball attire, supported the cure for breast cancer by being dressed in pink, has been Santa’s elf, and eaten by a huge great white shark. There are many more tricks that have been played on the Kook and it has become a San Diego tradition to continuously vandalize this sculpture. The remainder of the photos can be seen by following this link http://www.utsandiego.com/photos/galleries/2011/jan/04/cardiff-surfer-statue/
