This Lucky Cat by Hans Tan Stops Beckoning When You Approach It

Jan 12
2 min read

You know those waving lucky cats you often see at shopfronts, cashier counters, or random provision stores? The ones endlessly swinging their arms back and forth, as if stuck in a loop of constant optimism?

No Such Luck by Hans Tan gives that familiar object a surprisingly clever twist.

The moment someone steps in front of it, the waving stops.

No signs, no warnings, as though it has just stopped functioning.

Yet the very moment the person walks away from it, it begins beckoning again, awaiting its next “victim".

Hans shared about this project with with us during our final year in University and I remember being soOoOOOoo drawn to how immediate the idea felt. There is no long explanation needed. Once the motion stops, you understand the entire concept almost instinctively.

What I especially like is how it doesn’t try to hide its mechanism. The transparent casing reveals the inner workings of the object (the gears, movement and structure) that normally stay invisible. Instead of pretending to be “magical”, it shows you exactly how the illusion works and that honesty makes it even more engaging.

The result is an object that feels oddly aware of you. It performs until it notices you, then deliberately pauses. That small shift turns a decorative figure into something interactive, almost conversational.

And honestly, I think that this might just be one of the most “effective” lucky cats ever made. Most lucky cats keep waving regardless of whether anyone is there to receive the gesture and this? This does the opposite. It responds to presence, acknowledges you and then immediately stops beckoning.

There’s something humorous, playful and surprising that I really like about this interaction.

What might even be clever-er than this is that a curator once put this piece of project at the entrance of the exhibition, ty

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