Christchurch Mystery: Anonymous Artists Hide "Produce Monsters" in Local Supermarkets.

Parp sculpture hidden in the shelves at Ferrymead Woolworths. Source: Produmon

Humans love to collect. We love to trade, discover, search and play. Consider real life treasure hunts like Geocaching and Pokémon Go, trading card games like Magic the Gathering, and collectable figurines like Sonny Angel’s. There’s something deeply nostalgic about the dopamine rush you get from engaging with these art forms. Here in Ōtautahi Christchurch, a new form of weird and wonderful art is taking the city by surprise.  

Produmon is part treasure hunt, part playable tabletop trading card game designed by a local duo of anonymous Ōtautahi artists. Together, they sculpt unique monsters out of multi medium sculpting clays and resin, incorporating detailed textures and custom satirical label modifications. The monsters are 100% one of a kind and designed to look like supermarket items such as spaghetti, baked beans and lollies. The Produmon duo are hiding these living supermarket items on shelves in Christchurch for members of the public to find and keep.  

So far, all their monsters have been hidden in Ferrymead Woolworths, however they told Canta, “as we live near Ferrymead this was just a testing ground to see if the concept worked. We also plan to reach out to Auckland, Wellington etc. [and] cover the country with their locations.” 

They attribute the inspiration behind the project to “deep nostalgia for the classic 90s era of monster collection, blended with a love for physical street art culture.” After realising how clinical, boring and corporate supermarkets are, they decided to liven up people’s grocery runs by turning an everyday moment in a real-world treasure hunt.  

“We wanted to give people a genuine sense of wonder while doing something as ordinary as buying groceries”, they said.  

So far, the Produmon collection features monsters that mimic tinned pineapple, Chupa Chups Incredible Chew lollies, mushy peas, spam, Vicks VapoRub, tinned corn kernels, Watties tinned spaghetti and baked beans.  

The artists said “the process starts with selecting iconic supermarket items and brainstorming how their physical characteristics can manifest as an expressive entity. Our absolute favourite so far has to be Specimen #008 (ANANAS). We collaborated with the amazing @ugly_ink to draw the trading card for him, which was incredible. As for the future? Expect the outbreak to spread from canned goods into the household utility, pharmacy, and breakfast cereal aisles very soon.” 

As well as the monster sculptures, Produmon also features hand illustrated trading cards that will be launching globally later this year. When a monster is found on the shelves, the capturer keeps the one-of-a-kind sculpture, reaching out to Produmon on Instagram to be recorded in the official Produdex as the Prime Trainer.  

“The 1/1 aspect is non-negotiable for us. In a world of mass production, there is something incredibly magical about knowing there is only one of that specific art piece hidden somewhere in the city wild. It completely ups the stakes of the hunt.” 

The duo are strongly against the use of AI in their project. “Our stance is strong: 100% Hand-sculpted. 0% AI. We are living in a digital landscape that is increasingly oversaturated with instantaneous, algorithmically generated images that lack human soul. Produmon is our deliberate, rebellious return to raw, physical craftsmanship. We are an artist duo doing absolutely everything ourselves. There is immense, irreplaceable value in human drawn illustrations, fingerprints left on sculpting clay, and real physical objects resting in physical spaces. Human creativity will always win. We also want to create a world where other artists are creating the artwork for the cards. Just like Pokémon, the cards are all different artists which makes it even more special.”

Greyham monster blends in with cans of spam. Source: Produmon

As well as having a strict stance against generative AI tools, the pair feel strongly about their anonymity, protecting the identities in order to preserve the magic of the game. All they will reveal is that they are two artists from Christchurch.  

They said “the moment you put a human face and a real name on a project like this, it shatters the illusion and starts to feel like a traditional corporate marketing campaign or an art gallery portfolio. Staying completely anonymous allows Produmon to function as a true, organic urban legend. It allows the community to focus entirely on the mystery, the lore, and the creatures themselves. We want people to wonder who is doing this, because that curiosity drives the spirit of the game.” 

The team have been creating monster sculptures that feature Kiwi brands, such as Watties for their tinned spaghetti and baked bean creations. They attribute this to wanting to pay tribute to New Zealand as their home, while also grounding the game locally. That said, they acknowledge consumer culture is universal, and all countries have their own nostalgic versions of Watties. “As the game scales globally, our future sets will adapt to parody the specific, iconic household brands belonging to whichever global sector we drop into”, they commented.  

In terms of long-term vision, the pair said the supermarket hunt is just phase one.  

“Every physical specimen we drop features a corresponding trading card layout detailing its type, moveset, and stats. Our long-term vision is a fully playable, fast-paced tabletop trading card game. This local street art movement is building our foundation ahead of a global Kickstarter campaign launching later this year, where players worldwide will finally be able to secure their own official 1st Edition booster packs and battle boxes.” 

Now is the time to get involved. Follow along at the Produmon Instagram account (@pr0dum0n) and keep an eye on their stories for visual shelf hints and geographic coordinates.  

“When a clue drops, it’s a race against the clock. Head to the store, scan the aisles, and find the anomaly. The first person to physically secure the piece keeps it as a permanent piece of fine art for free, just DM us a picture of your catch to be recorded in the Official Produdex as the Prime Trainer. One final warning: watch out for @foberexlabinc. They are the corporate front we built into the game's lore who are actively "studying" and trying to contain these anomalies. Don't let them secure the specimens before the community does.”