Environmental Graffiti

Since 1983, colourful giant animals have been spotted around the world. Some seem to emerge right out of the water, while others hang in the balance like some kind of animal laundry between close-knit buildings. Still others stand guard atop historic landmarks and downtown balconies while top predators revert to their basest instincts in a bid for survival. Created using recycled plastic bottles by Cracking Art Group, these animals represent the art collective’s strong social and environmental ethic while bringing accessible contemporary art to the masses. The art group, which consists of six members from Italy, France and Belgium, derived their name from the term used to describe the transformation of petroleum to plastic, called ‘catalytic cracking’. All six artists use the medium of plastic to give rise to their own interpretation of “our contemporary problems and tensions.”