In November 2014, when green tentacles sprouted out of the fifth floor of the Jindal Mansion on Mumbai’s posh and busy Peddar Road, people had varying reactions. Some thought that aliens had finally decided to pay Earth a visit, while others thought the movie ‘Jurassic Park’ was being shot at the mansion. Little did people know that the green tentacles were part of British artist Filthy Luker’s installation at the Jindal Mansion.
Luker’s world-famous larger-than-life inflatables came to life on one bustling street of Mumbai as part of our second ever street art festival – St+art Mumbai 2014. Part of his ‘Octo’ series, the piece was designed as a massive 3D inflatable installation. It was emphasized that the piece be interactive and open to multiple interpretations. Depending on adjustments to harnessing points and strings, the installation was also designed to adapt itself to its present conditions.
It’s just a kind of visual joke, a trick – the viewer imagines the rest of the octopus taking over the inside of the building. The idea really works well with the medium as when it’s windy the tentacles wave and move about and look so alive
- Filthy Luker, ArtistOwned by Sajjan Jindal, the stately Jindal Mansion serves as the corporate office for the JSW group. The iconic, all-white building provided the perfect venue for the ‘odd invasive’ green installation that both enraptured and took Mumbaikers by surprise first on a busy morning. The piece continued to spark conversations and intrigue onlookers for over 2 weeks as the pristine white building in one of the busiest arteries of Mumbai got for the first time re-imagined, thus stimulating a direct connection with everyone.
“My friend is saying that 4 dinosaurs have gone inside,” another passerby was quoted as saying. “It looks good. Something new to see in our country,”
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