Shenron is summoned on the Normandy beach.
“Street artist” is a pretty loosely defined term, and as such doesn’t necessarily dictate that one only create art in an urban setting. For example, French street artists Blesea and Baby K’s latest creation isn’t found on any sort of paved road, but on the sands of France’s Réville seaside.
But while the waves of the Atlantic lap at their newest work, the inspiration actually comes from an island in the Pacific, as the two have transformed a blockhouse on the beach into Shenron, the giant, wish-granting dragon from anime/manga franchise Dragon Ball.
Blesea, a lifelong fan of the legendary martial arts anime, says doing something like this has been his “childhood dream.” In the video documenting their creative process, the artists can be seen using spray cans and rollers to compete the massive mural.
▼ The contours of the blockhouse give the artwork a 3-D effect, making it seem like Shenron is resting on his own coiled body.
For those unfamiliar with the term, a blockhouse is a sort of aboveground bunker. Given the location of this blockhouse on the Normandy coast, it’s likely to have been built by the Nazis during the German occupation of France during World War II. Some may take issue with using a structure with such a dark historical significance as a canvas for playful anime fan art, but the video shows that even before Blesea and Baby K put down a single speck of paint, this particular blockhouse was already covered with modern graffiti.
Being exposed to the elements, it’s likely only a matter of time until the wind, water, and sun undo the artists’ work, but for the time being, the blockhouse is getting to bask in the limelight as something far more benign than it was originally built to be.
Source: Bored Panda
Images: YouTube/Mogab Productions
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