Beneath the Wave 2.0
A Return to Blazing Swan
Two years after its first life under Poseidon’s Flame, Beneath the Wave made its long-awaited return to Blazing Swan 2025: rebuilt, reimagined, and filled with even more heart.
The first version of Beneath the Wave in 2023 was a huge leap for me, my first large-scale immersive installation, a personal love letter to the ocean, and a symbol of creation through flow and transformation. But this year, it wasn’t just mine. It became a true collaboration and a community-built experience powered by friends, family and a full crew of helpers who showed up with drills, zip ties, glitter, and love.
Rebuilding the Ocean
Bringing Beneath the Wave back to Blazing Swan felt like revisiting a dream, one that had been washed away by the biblical storms of 2023 and was now ready to rise again. Sadly, Angelica, the giant papier-mâché anglerfish who watched over the original installation, didn’t survive the storm. She’d been battered by wind and dust, a reminder that festival art lives and dies with the elements.
But her spirit stayed with us. For 2025, we rebuilt the piece to honour her, sturdier, brighter and infused with new life. The framework from the original design became the foundation, with fresh materials, fabrics and lighting layered on top to give the illusion of motion like an ocean breathing in and out beneath the desert sky.
This time, setup was a full-scale adventure. What was once a solo-and-family operation became a team effort with a crew of friends and family coming together to build something beautiful in the dust. Watching everyone work side by side was pure magic. It reminded me how deeply collaborative art can be, especially at a festival like Blazing Swan where creativity thrives on community.
A New Depth of Experience
While the first version of Beneath the Wave captured the serenity and mystery of the ocean, the 2025 edition dove deeper, both literally and emotionally. We reimagined the lighting to flow like underwater currents, added new soundscapes to mimic the rhythm of the sea, and rebuilt the coral walls with more colour and texture.
Inside, the experience still offered that same sense of calm and immersion, but with a stronger undercurrent of resilience. A quiet reminder that even when things are destroyed, beauty can return in new forms.
As the lights rippled across the fabric and the bass of distant music blended with the hum of the ocean soundtrack, it felt like Beneath the Wave had finally found its true form; not just an installation, but a living ecosystem of art, memory, and community.
The Crew Behind the Magic
This year’s rebuild wouldn’t have been possible without the amazing crew who gave their time, energy, and heart to make it happen. Everyone brought something unique, from building and painting to lighting design and late-night problem-solving.
The teamwork reflected the heart of what Beneath the Wave has always been about: connection through creation. Every knot tied, every cable run, every layer of fabric hung with care became part of the artwork itself.
We laughed, swore, danced, and occasionally panicked, but mostly, we just kept flowing, trusting the process (and the zip ties).
The Takeaway: Art That Evolves
Bringing Beneath the Wave back was more than a rebuild, it was a rebirth. It reminded me that immersive art doesn’t have to stay frozen in time. It can change, evolve, and take on new meaning through collaboration and experience.
While Angelica didn’t make it to see this new ocean, her spirit lived on in every glowing light and every ripple of blue fabric. The installation may have looked different this time, but its message stayed the same: we’re all connected by flow, by movement, by the stories that travel beneath the surface.
✨
To the 2025 crew — thank you for helping me bring the waves back to life.
