I have worked with international charity Greenpeace on the ‘Save the Arctic’ campaign for the past 3 years creating innovative and attention grabbing props to aid them in their plight. My latest creation was 5 large-scale iceberg/arctic ship floats that would be used as part of a public protest outside London’s Shell HQ.
My brief was to create 5 floats to accompany my previous creation ‘Aurora’ the giant marionette, each float would work as part of he polar bear lair. My design concept was to use the 5 floats as a giant 3D puzzle pieces that would each fit in and around the giant bear. When each piece was moved away from the bear they would individually reveal the image of a frozen arctic ship / iceberg. Individually the floats had to function not only as an Arctic prop but also included a storage area and a stage for the activists. To make the props as multi-functional as possible I designed them to work both individually and when combined to create the image of an Arctic ship.
The day of the public protest was seen by thousands of onlookers and covered by all of the major broad sheets and online news sites including The Guardian, The Independent, i, Metro, The Evening Standard. The event was made even more fantastic by the attendance of internationally famous, actress and Greenpeace member Emma Thompson.
The floats were constructed from a wooden framework on heavy-duty casters then cladded with carved layers of micro foam and finally treated with several layers of specially prepared sealants and scenic painting. The full design and build process was achieved in 2 months by myself and my team of prop making specialists.