For this week's CCC's Street Art Contest I would like to share a mural that's not from Mexico for once. I'm down in New Zealand, and only a five minute walk from my parents' house I came across this mind-blowing image. It's not a very big one, maybe 1x2 meters on what I believe is some electrical fuse box thing. It's the type of infrastructure that you may see in unsuspecting grey, and most likely ignore it completely unless you are an electrician. In this case, however, there is no way you could walk past it without looking twice.
The Mighty Mighty Ocean
From far away you may not even fully realize what it's supposed to show. I myself only noticed the large swirly features I recognized from various examples of Maori art, be it carved or drawn designs. Only as I got closer did I see that it was a human-like figure, the muscular body, the long, thick beard, and the green battle club he is holding. No doubt, this formidable character looked some kind of Maori warrior, or chieftain... until I saw the whale!
Okay, so apparently the entire guy, with his beard and weapon is under the sea. That can be seen in the air bubbles all around, with the whale swimming above and behind him. And seeing how the greatest creature on earth is being dwarfed by him, I realized that this man had to be of supernatural nature. Though this is purely my own interpretation, I would say he represents the ocean itself. A character so powerful that you really would not want to be at the receiving end of his wreath.
I could not see any indication to the artist, but I knew I could not leave this mighty image behind without sharing it.