View the full video of behind the scenes hand-lettering of Gone Gone Gorilla

The wildly popular Wow! Gorillas project involved sixty leading artists and was timed to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Bristol Zoo. Running for ten weeks over the summer the initiative attracted visitors and locals alike to explore the city whilst drawing attention to the plight of gorillas in the wild.

Tom Lane (aka Ginger Monkey) and Ged Palmer, who donated their creativity for the cause at the last minute, were awarded a silver and a bronze in the Fresh Digital Awards for their hand-lettered gorilla, which also raised £5,000 at a charity auction. Now there’s the chance to witness the behind the scenes production of the artwork from workshop to street, culminating in it’s grand unveiling in Bristol’s historic Queens Square.

Days before all the gorillas were to be positioned around the city Tom was approached by Harvey Whitehead, director of 375, and tasked with bringing to life their gorilla concept ‘Going Gone Gorilla’. With only two days to complete the momentous task of hand-lettering facts about the illegal bushmeat trade to cover the entire gorilla Tom turned to his creative ally Ged Palmer to help ensure the creation of the artwork was a success.

Once the artwork was complete the entire sculpture was then sprayed with a heat sensitive paint. During the day, as the heat of the sun warmed the paint the artwork would be revealed, as it cooled the sculpture would return to black and the artwork would disappear highlighting the disappearance of gorillas in the wild.