Godzilla climbs dam

Spray cans are not necessarily required for graffiti. Instead, street art can also be created under high pressure – in the truest sense of the word.

An impressive example of this is the oversized image of the film character Godzilla, which now adorns a dam in the Japanese prefecture of Saga.

Specialists from Germany had travelled to Asia specifically to “draw” at dizzying heights.

Dam anniversary and Godzilla birthday celebrated

The XXL image was created as part of the “Godzilla in Saga” program and as part of the “SagaPrise!” communication campaign. The “Godzilla in Saga Dam Art Project Powered by Kärcher” celebrates two anniversaries at once.

The Iwayagawachi Dam, which served as the “screen”, is celebrating its 50th anniversary – and the film character Godzilla is turning 70.

For the oversized depiction, the dirt, consisting of moss, lichen and algae growth, was first tackled: By specifically removing dirt with Kärcher high-pressure cleaners, the Godzilla portrait gradually emerged on the concrete surface of the dam.

The drawing is based on the contrast between cleaned and uncleaned surfaces and shows the film character in a big city setting.

"Although this drawing was not the first reverse graffiti for us, it is still something very special. The world-famous figure Godzilla comes from Japan and is part of modern cultural heritage there. It was therefore a special task for our team to be involved in its creation," says Nick Heyden, who implemented the project as project manager and cleaning expert at Kärcher.

Elaborate painting by numbers at lofty heights

A team of specialists from Germany flew to Japan specifically to create the drawing. They included four industrial climbers who abseiled from the top of the dam and applied 2.400 marking points made of ecological paint to the contaminated surface.

They were supported by surveying technicians who marked the corresponding spots on the wall from the ground using laser technology.

In the second step, the climbers used high-pressure cleaners to remove the motif from the dirt, following the “paint by numbers” principle.

Sierks Media / © Photos: djd, Alfred Kärcher / Source: djd