"Copenhagen's Alternative Mermaid Mobs of tourists line up to get their photo taken in front of Copenhagen 's iconic Little Mermaid statue. The bronze replica of Hans Christian Andersen's beloved fairytale mermaid was certainly cute. But I found the city's less famous mermaid to be much cooler (and totally crowd-free). The “Genetically Modified Little Mermaid” is on a square by Dahlerups Pakhus, an old warehouse in the Copenhagen Harbour, just a short walk from the real statue. Bjørn Nørgaard created the abstract mermaid as part of a larger sculpture group called the Genetically Modified Paradise. The collection of sculptures is supposed to be the artist’s ironic view of the postmodern society and a meditation on the way genetic technology is changing the way humans perceive themselves. His other works surround a large fountain and are abstract representations of Madonna, Adam, Christ, Maria Magdalena, Eve, the tripartite capital and a pregnant man. The mermaid is set apart on her own small island nearby."
