Artist Beth McMahon from the indirect Object and collaborators including A Blanck Canvas – the group behind The White Knight Messenger in 2017 – have created Metamorphosis. 

The interactive sound and light show, which is activated by the audience through touch, includes 25 cocoons varying in height from 55 centimetres to two metres. 

McMahon said the cocoons were a powerful symbol of change, while the collaborators also wanted a magical landscape that drew in and delighted the viewer.

“It is about the interaction between nature and technology,” McMahon said.

“The cocoon sounds are a collection of local insect noises, musical instruments, vocal samples, but also human machines.

“Our thinking is that these cocoons have been listening and learning from the human environment, and they mimic the sounds they hear in our technological world as well as the natural world.”

The cocoons network together, which means touching one could awaken a series of cocoons. 

“And that really symbolises how we’re all interconnected, both humans, nature and the way that we come together,” McMahon said. 

“We wanted to create something that the public could not just interact with, but also have a profound impact on how the installation manifested and experience that delight in discovery.”

McMahon emphasised the huge collaboration of talented individuals required to bring the project, which took a year of planning, to life. 

“Without coding skills, programming skills and the ability to build bespoke circuitry to make this work, this wouldn’t happen,” she said.

“And it’s a huge privilege to be able to create such a large and ambitious project for White Night.”

McMahon said White Night was an important event on Australia’s cultural calendar and provided a fantastic opportunity to showcase interesting and innovative works.

White Night takes place in Ballarat on Saturday, March 17, from 7pm-2am.