A new giant octopus mural beams proudly not just as an epic mural on campus, but as a unique teacher teeming with lessons!
Durban, South Africa (23 July 2024) — A giant octopus has made its way to the STADIO Musgrave campus thanks to the talented work of graffiti artist Giffy Duminy. But, this Octopus isn’t just here to bring a splash of the sea to the Durban campus—it’s also here to teach students a thing or eight.
As it so often is with murals and bold public artworks, Giffy’s “most massive mollusc yet” is packed with meaning and call to actions from the students present and future who will come to know the giant octopus as the teacher who never uttered a word.
For those who are new to Giffy’s work, the artist frequently celebrates nature’s treasures in all their shapes, forms and colours; spotlighting creatures from often overlooked anemones to mighty lionesses in a bigger pursuit to leave nature’s mark all over our urban lives and ultimately, remind us of the natural world beyond our manmade one.
The giant octopus is for Giffy a product of deep fascination. Its lessons are richly inherent: use your intelligence and adapt to survive and flourish.
Octopuses adapt their visual appearance often to survive, and use their incredible intelligence to make a plan when the going gets tough (like using objects like shells to “fortify their den” as Giffy points out).
And while most of us might not be able to escape an enemy by means of a cloud of black ink, we can draw on the Octopus’s ways to escape other big challenges like environmental havoc.
Adapting to new ways of living, consuming and consciousness will change the trajectory of issues that directly impact our friends in the sea. Similarly, using our intelligence to think about ways we can be most effective in the betterment of our Earth is key to building a future that matters.
It’s a big lesson for everyone who thinks that you need to be a hero to change the world. Instead, considering thinking like an octopus—be smart, change what you can and be unbothered if anyone else thinks you’re alien-like for doing so!
Says Giffy:
“I thought this animal would make a beautiful mural, and hopefully spark some curiosity and conversation on the ocean and it’s part in our lives and how we depend on it for clean air and a multitude of other ways we need it.
“An intelligent objective we should aim for is to consume less seafood, since most deep water line and net fishing is not good for the oceans and results in a lot of [discarded] fishing material. Line fishing is non-selective and a lot of bycatch is putting our shared Ocean at great risk of being completely overfished. If you would like to eat seafood there are ways to source it from spear fisherman, which is a far cleaner source of this resource.
“Each of our actions makes a difference and the collective change is what makes a large impact.”
Sources: Giffy Duminy
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