“Disposing machine n°2”

Because there is still an ongoing environmental crisis in our oceans and because sea mammals do not have Instagram accounts (flippers are too clumsy for those little texting buttons), we are here again with you to discuss a new mural by Nevercrew painting in Gisborne, New Zealand.

Nevercrew. “Disposing machine n°2”. Seawalls Tairāwhiti project by PangeaSeed Foundation. Gisborne, New Zeland. (photo courtesy of Nevercrew)

“Human habits and politics are modifying the natural balance, sometimes in direct and visible ways, sometimes in more underhanded and indirect ways,” say the art duo Christian Rebecchi about Pablo Togni,“and sea mammals are powerlessly suffering this imposition that’s embodied in the increasing of temperatures, water pollution, interferences in their habitat, swings in the ecosystems, hunting, and more.”

Created with the Pangeaseed Foundation, the Hawaii-based not-for-profit, public art program that has created nearly 300 murals with 200 international artists in 14 countries to bring to the streets a message about ocean conservation, this whale is part of the Nevercrew vocabulary.

Nevercrew. “Disposing machine n°2”. Seawalls Tairāwhiti project by PangeaSeed Foundation. Gisborne, New Zeland. (photo courtesy of Nevercrew)

Impressive in scale, volume, and texture, the artists find new and inventive ways to permute the natural iconographic image of this massive sea creature and virtually modernize it in our minds, honoring it and elevating it to even greater relevance for a contemporary audience that is fluent in aesthetics.

By turning this god-like animal into mere elements of mechanics or body parts exposes our dim-witted appreciation for something that should instead inspire awe.How does that saying go? “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”

Nevercrew. “Disposing machine n°2”. Seawalls Tairāwhiti project by PangeaSeed Foundation. Gisborne, New Zeland. (photo courtesy of Nevercrew)

“A vision of this phenomenon, a perception of the overall issue and actual and future damage, seems hard to experience in a tangible way,” they say. “This has to pass again from human interpretation and understanding.”

“There’s a urge then to acknowledge that humankind is part of a balance together with the rest of the elements that compose Planet Earth”

Nevercrew. “Disposing machine n°2”. Seawalls Tairāwhiti project by PangeaSeed Foundation. Gisborne, New Zeland. (photo courtesy of Nevercrew)

Nevercrew. “Disposing machine n°2”. Seawalls Tairāwhiti project by PangeaSeed Foundation. Gisborne, New Zeland. (photo courtesy of Nevercrew)

Nevercrew. “Disposing machine n°2”. Seawalls Tairāwhiti project by PangeaSeed Foundation. Gisborne, New Zeland. (photo courtesy of Nevercrew)

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