‘Cardiff Kook’ meets the digital age with phone app
By Jonathan Heller
Contributor
It’s been dressed up as Cupid. It’s been devoured by a papier-mâché shark. It’s even been depicted as a ballerina. But now, those who wish to deface the infamous “Cardiff Kook” surfing statue don’t have to venture out in the middle of the night and risk jail time, or even climb a ladder.
Local software designer Randy Ullrich has created an iPhone app that lets users paste their faces on the Cardiff Kook. That’s Randy above about to be devoured by a shark.
A local software designer has made it possible to put your face – or anyone’s face – on the Kook using an innovative app you can download on your iPhone. Randy Ullrich, CEO of RapDevPro, calls it “virtual vandalism.”
The Cardiff Kook, whose given name is “Magic Carpet Ride,” was built in 2007 and almost immediately panned by the surfing community. Although the artist intended to portray a young boy learning to surf, local surfers thought the 16-foot, limp-wristed statue was awkward and downright goofy.
Since then, it has become something of a local sport to clothe the Kook in all manner of humiliating garb in honor of holidays, celebrities or even presidents. It was recently dressed up as Oprah.
“You know, I didn’t have a strong opinion of the statue when it was put up, but I thought the community’s reaction to it was hilarious,” said Ullrich, 47.
Ullrich, who had already developed an app that lets you put faces on everything from Mt. Rushmore to the Mona Lisa, thought it would be fun to apply the software code to the local icon. But he needed photographs of the statue in its natural, unclothed state, which were actually hard to get given how regularly the statue is vandalized.
“After four tries, I figured out that the best time to go was mid-week, without any hint of a holiday in the near future,” he said.
The app, named simply, “The Cardiff Kook,” includes 32 templates of the statue with a hole where the face should be. Users can upload an image of their face — or any face — and superimpose it atop the statue’s neck. The templates show the Kook digitally clothed in outfits for all the major holidays and even include several called “Dead Kook,” which depict it being hanged, nailed to a cross, about to jump off a building and being eaten by a shark.
Although he has not launched a serious marketing effort yet, the app is already drawing praise on Apple’s App Store.
“They did The Cardiff Kook justice. Nice!” wrote “Yoma,” who gave the app five stars.
“As a local, I think this is hilarious!” opined “Tickledpink4453.”
The app has also intrigued at least one local surfing enthusiast.
“I think it’s sorta cool,” said Terry Rodgers, former surfing columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune. “I mean, the history of this piece of public art is that it’s inspired spontaneous parody and occasional sarcasm. It’s a lightning rod for what’s happening in the world and a canvas for social comment.”
Ullrich, who has an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from SDSU, is the sole employee of RapDevPro. He taps into the global workforce to operate his business, and has used contractors from China, India and Buenos Aires, in addition to the U.S.
Ullrich said he is donating 5 percent of his proceeds to the San Diego County Public Library system.
For more information on RapDevPro, visit www.rapdevpro.com.
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