Tuff City Underground Street Art Aquatic Project
Continue this walk by entering the Tofino Community Centre and viewing Daniela Petosa’s First Light.
Description
Growing up on the coast the scale is probably the most interesting influence. Like the trees are huge, and the fish are huge, and the coastline is long, and my art is, well now anways, big. — Van Law
Tuff City Art Underground (TCAU) is a group of local and Vancouver Island youth who come together periodically to collaborate on art, music, and performance. TCAU is dedicated to advancing the arts in local culture by creating art that is technically advanced, intellectually and aesthetically stimulating, and appropriate and accessible to children and youth.
Van Law and Ellie Law, two of the collective’s artists who grew up in Tofino, remember the project in vibrant detail and discuss the influence of street art.
The extensive marine-themed scenes depicted on the generator celebrate the unique marine biodiversity of Clayoquot Sound. The work is meant to be interactive; viewers are encouraged to follow the tidal flow and circumnavigate the box, discovering the anthropomorphic mice and rats hidden throughout.
These characters link the generator project to the underground West Coast street art culture which for several years has depicted small animals going about their business in local communities (visiting the library, riding the bus, kissing on concrete benches, or escaping from jail into local culverts).
These mini-scenes move street art into the realm of illustration or “static theatre,” for the benefit of locals, especially local children and youth. The Art Aquatic project expands and centralizes this theme, and is a truly unique multi-narrative Tofino street art experience.
To learn more about this mural, visit: www.tofino.ca/artaquatic
