Giant Pacific Octopus by artists Gillie and Marc
LOCATIONS
EDITION 1 - SINGAPORE - 19 May 2023 - 18 May 2024
Gardens By The Bay, 18 Marina Gardens Dr, Singapore 018953
Visit the sculpture, click for map >
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NAME
Toakase
TITLE
Love The Giant Pacific Octopus
GENDER
Female
AGE
1
FOUND
Northern Pacific Ocean
CONSERVATION STATUS
Unknown
This 1-year-old lady is a real giant, the biggest of her kind. She glides around her Pacific home with such grace and beauty, blending in with her coral surroundings and feasting on all sorts of clams, fish, and even other octopuses! But she feels the temperatures around her rising which makes it hard to breathe. She hopes it doesn’t get too much warmer or she doesn’t know how she will survive.
These giants roam the Pacific ocean, perhaps the largest species of cephalopod in the world. They can weigh 110 pounds and measure 16 feet across. And like all octopuses, they are very intelligent. It’s not surprising considering they have 9 brains! Not only that, they have 8 arms and 3 hearts. Each brain looks after something different, one for each individual leg and one for the nervous system. are coloured a reddish-pink which helps them to blend in with their rocky or coral surroundings. These masters of disguise can change the colour and texture of their skin in one-tenth of a second! Another fantastic tactic is their use of toxic black ink that they squirt out at any predators, giving them the chance for a quick getaway.
The giant Pacific octopus, while the longest living of all octopuses, only lives an average of 2-3 years and tends to die shortly after breeding. After mating, the female will head off to find a nice den or cave where she will lay up to 74,000 eggs. She will stay with them for seven months, never leaving them during this entire time, even to find food. While she waits she continuously blows water over her eggs and removes any algae or growths. Shortly after her young hatch, she will die as she would have starved to death, or perhaps even self-cannibalised. When the babies hatch out they are tiny, about the size of a grain of rice. Being so small and vulnerable, very few survive. Those that do grow very quickly.
It is not known how many giant Pacific octopuses are swimming about our oceans as they are very difficult to track and estimate numbers. Regardless of whether there are few or many, there are many threats to their survival. Because they have blue blood that is not very good at transporting oxygen around their body they can only live in cooler, oxygen-rich waters. With rising sea temperatures, they are forced into deeper and cooler waters and their habitats are destroyed, creating dead zones. These rising temperatures also speed up the development of the octopus eggs, interrupting the critical timing of food availability. Ocean acidification is also a huge issue, brought on by the increased levels of CO₂ due to our use of fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrialisation. A small change in the pH of the water can lead to death for these creatures.
HOW TO HELP
Inspired by animals that Gillie and Marc met on their travels, we invite the public to discover and interact with these beautiful creatures up close and personal – this allows audiences to connect, take photographs and share their favourite species with friends and family.
With more exposure comes more awareness and builds on the love we already have for animals around the world. With love comes a greater sense of urgency to create a change and save all endangered animals.
The sculpture will be aligned with the hashtag #LoveTheLast to raise unparalleled awareness about the sculpture’s cause across the globe.
To help protect these animals, please donate to the WWF: https://www.wwf.sg/
PARTNER
WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organisations. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. As one of WWF’s international hubs, WWF-Singapore supports a global network spanning over 100 countries. We work to meet key conservation goals, such as deforestation, haze pollution, food security, sustainable finance, sustainable consumption and illegal wildlife trade.
ABOUT GILLIE AND MARC
Gillie and Marc’s highly coveted public artworks can be found worldwide including in New York, London, Singapore, Shanghai, and Sydney. They are Archibald Prize finalists, won the Chianciano Biennale in Italy, took out the Allens People’s Choice Award in 2016 and 2018 and Kids’ Choice Award in the 2016 Sculpture by the Sea and received the Bayside Arts Festival People's Choice Award in 2019 in Sydney.
The husband-and-wife duo are on a mission to make art for a better tomorrow. They are best known for their beloved characters, Rabbitwoman and Dogman, who tell the autobiographical tale of two opposites coming together as best friends and soul mates.
Gillie and Marc are also passionate eco-warriors and have dedicated their lives to protecting nature.
Gillie grew up with the wildlife in Zambia and Marc studied chimpanzees in Tanzania as a young man. Over time, the artists developed a deep appreciation for all living things and a desire to preserve the magnificence of the natural world.
Gillie and Marc’s mission is to save species from extinction. Through their practices, they are transforming passive audiences into passionate advocates for animal conservation, spreading awareness about endangered species and leading to change.
Their art has raised hundreds of thousands in donations for the many wildlife charities and causes they support through their project Love The Last.
Please follow @gillieandmarcart
If you are interested in buying art related to the Love the Last March, you will also be directly helping real animals in the wild, with 30% of sales going to WWF to continue their fantastic work for animal conservation. Click here to browse art > https://gillieandmarc.com/collections/love-the-last-march
SPONSOR
Neo Group Limited, a leading award-winning brand in the food services and hospitality industry, was established in Singapore in 1992. Backed by an integrated value chain and strong track record, Neo Group provides customers with end-to-end food and catering solutions through a comprehensive suite of capabilities and service offerings across five main business segments - Food Catering, Food Retail, Food Manufacturing, Supplies and Trading, and Property. Its unique value proposition and strong commitment to constantly innovate and remain at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies and automation has enabled Neo Group to solidify its position as Singapore’s Number One Events Caterer and grow beyond catering.
Through its subsidiaries, Neo Group’s trading network spans over 30 countries worldwide, while its operations in Singapore are supported by its latest 10-storey state-of-the-art headquarters, central kitchens, manufacturing facilities, warehouses and over 1,600 dedicated employees.
Visit Sponsor Website > www.neogroup.sg