Jacques cousteau — SeaWalls
Jacques Cousteau: A Homage for Seawalls Cozumel.
This was my first official tour of many to come with the PangeaSeed Foundation (PSF) crew. A wild and deeply impactful ride to say the least.
At 16 I embarked on my first journey to that small slice of paradise, whipping down dirt roads in a rickety red jeep with my newly minted license. Nearly 20 years later, Cozumel was barely recognizable from that ocean side village where I first fell in love on a beach.
PANGEASEED
PSF is an international marine conservation organization, who in collaboration with 1xRUN, Tony Delfino, and World Art Destinations (WAD) [LINK TO CANCUN/SHANTZ], hosted the second annual summer series of its groundbreaking mural festival, Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans.
The festival took place from July 17 – 26, 2015, on this tiny Caribbean island, bringing education, meaningful connections, and inspiration to the community.
Within the span of 5 days, 35 large-scale public murals were introduced throughout Cozumel’s town center, addressing pressing marine environmental issues such as shark finning, overfishing, coastal development, climate change, and coral reef conservation.
Participant artists had the opportunity to learn directly from local experts about environmental challenges the region is facing.
A POWER TOOL
Public art is a power tool. It is very effective provided you know how to plug it in and turn it on. Its use and eventual impact is determined by artistic / administrative intention(s), to the degree to which those intentions are understood and given shape
Showing an artist where the “on” switch is a key function of the PSF.
Give an artist a topic and watch as these creative wizards — often possessing large social media networks — transform themselves into ambassadors of water protection. Their work then begins to increasingly embody urgent and powerful messages.
ARTIVISM
The festival was truly staggering in scope, featuring over 50 contemporary artists from across the globe. To date, I’ve not ever been participant in a festival of this magnitude, and likely better off for having done so.
Sometimes our eyes are bigger than our mouths.
My deepest respect to the team who pulled this epic event off with such substantive heuvos. Working to produce a festival of this scale, on a small Mexican island, while herding a bunch of cats artists, is no easy task to say the least.
“The power of public art and activism has the ability to educate and inspire the global community to help save our seas.
—Tre Packard, PangeaSeed Executive Director
No matter where you are in the world, the ocean supplies us with every second breath we take and life on Earth cannot exist without healthy oceans.
With dwindling global fish stocks, rising sea levels, and widespread pollution, whether you live on the coast, in the city or in the mountains, we should all feel responsible for the health of the oceans and life that lives within it,”
PARTICIPANTS
The project included 15 local islanders, 11 from Mexico and 24 from eleven countries around the world, all using paint donated by Montana Cans and Osel [LINK TO EDGAR PROJECTS].
This is BY FAR the biggest ALL STAR festival lineup I’ve ever seen internationally…a true tour de force. Each of these cats is very much worth looking up and following:
Aaron Glasson (New Zealand)
Alexis Diaz (Puerto Rico)
Amanda Lynn (USA)
Bicicleta Sem Freio (Brazil)
Caratoes (Hong Kong)
Celeste Byers (USA)
Christopher Konecki (USA)
Colectivo La Quinta (Mexico)
Cryptik (USA)
Curiot (Mexico)
CYH Jayson (Taiwan)
Dherzu Uzala (Mexico)
Ever (Argentina)
Faith47 (South Africa)
Fintan Magee (Australia)
Honghikuri (Mexico)
Hueman (USA)
Ian Ross (USA)
Jack Fox (South Africa)
Jason Botkin (Canada)
JAZ (Argentina)
Jesús Benítez (Mexico)
Kai’ili Kaulukukui (USA)
Liz Rashell (Mexico)
Meggs (Australia)
Melhor (Mexico)
Naturel (USA)
NEWS (Mexico)
Osel Paint Crew (Mexico)
Paola Delfín (Mexico)
Phlegm (UK)
Seher One (Mexico)
Tatiana Suarez (USA)
The London Police (UK)
Tristan Eaton (USA)
Zio Ziegler (USA)
JACQUES COUSTEAU — A TRIBUTE
The mural is a very forward tribute to a remarkable pioneer of marine conservation, Jacques Cousteau. His work was instrumental in raising awareness about the importance of water protection, through the production of documentaries and books which showcased the beauty and diversity of the underwater world.
At the time of this painting, I had only recently begun exploring these wave shapes—big, bold, plastic forms rendered in a slightly muted palate —crashing into plastic bottles, a portrait of JC, and a large disembodied jaundiced hand, with water streaming from his stigmatized palm.
CHALLENGES
Despite the many frequent challenges that arise, I love painting big walls. Some of the biggest hurdles on this wall included:
Heat. Learning to paint under relentless conditions of sun and heat is a skill unto itself. Hydration and a light diet is a must, as is patience and an increasing resilience to the discomfort of hard conditions.
Ladder. The right equipment is crucial. To complete one tricky section of this wall where the scaffolding would not easily fit, I was offered a fireman’s ladder. Great tool in general, but not suited to the job without rubber coated ‘feet’ at the base of the ladder, preventing it from sliding out from the wall under load.
Perched near the top of this 8’ (2.4m) unit, that exact scenario came to pass causing permanent damage to my left ankle and foot. This unfortunate event came to pass on day 2 of 6. Thank god for skateboards, which was the only efficient way for me to move around town following that very painful accident.
Get help when you need it. I should have. We learn the hard way, sometimes.
COMMUNITY
One of the biggest gifts to emerge from this event was the unprecedented opportunity to meet a vast number of artists from around the world, who had up until that point been the stuff of internet celebrity.
Many beautiful relationships emerged from the event, with artists whose work i continue to admire to the day, and whose paths I frequently cross while travelling internationally.
It was beautiful and life affirming to be surrounded by a community of folks willing to put their money where their mouth is. In other words, each of these artists took time out of their intensely packed life schedules to take direct action in support of something they care deeply about.
This was my first real taste of ‘artivism’, or a fusion of art with activism. It’s easy to fall in love on a beach.
Protect what you love.
I’ve included a video created by the ever incredible Zane Meyer of Chop Em’ Down Films. WWW.CHOPEMDOWNFILMS.COM
Photos by Tre Packard, possessing a pretty gifted eye himself.
Jacques Cousteau
June 11, 1910 (Saint-André-de-Cubzac, France) —
June 25, 1997 (Paris, France)
French naval officer, ocean explorer, and coinventor of the Aqua-Lung,
known for his extensive underseas investigations.
After graduating from France’s naval academy in 1933, he was commissioned a second lieutenant.
However, his plans to become a navy pilot were undermined by an almost fatal automobile accident
in which both his arms were broken. Cousteau, not formally trained as a scientist, was drawn to
undersea exploration by his love both of the ocean and of underwater diving.
In 1943 Cousteau and French engineer Émile Gagnan developed the first fully automatic
compressed-air Aqua-Lung (scuba apparatus), which allowed divers to swim freely
underwater for extended periods of time.
