Dead Puppet Society Launches un-bee-lievable sculpture at West Village!

Initially set to activate during West Village’s month-long celebration ‘Village Bees’ to commemorate World Bees Day in May, the installation was delayed due to COVID-19 but takes full flight from Saturday.
Hive Mind also marks the launch of Dead Puppet Society’s new business ventures; Activation and Collection.
Activation is set to bring the company’s captivating installations and open air performances to public spaces and events (such as Hive Mind), while Collection provides the opportunity to source an original sculpture from their exclusive range for display at home or as part of a retail fit out.

Dead Puppet Society Creative Director David Morton said partnering with West Village for Hive Mind has been a privilege.

Dead Puppet Society has been exploring ways to bring our creative work outside of the theatre realm for some time and saw Hive Mind as the perfect opportunity to begin. Hive Mind was created to showcase the bees’ vital role in preserving the urban ecosystem and we felt the fabrication techniques that we’ve developed over the past decade for our productions could translate beautifully into this new setting. Partnering with West Village to launch this new arm of work has provided Dead Puppet Society the chance to meld the inspiration that we have always drawn from the natural world with West Village’s focus on sustainable development, imaginative architecture and urban design.

The eye-catching display stands an incredible four metres tall and uses the wind as its puppeteer to appear as though the large aluminium, illuminated bees are actually flying. A smaller array of bees and butterfly creations will join the high-flying sculpture throughout The Common to turn the gardens into a sensory insect sanctuary, with an original composition by Tony Brumpton adding to the free experience. Adding to the experience, Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra Camerata will be staging a performance among the Hive Mind activation on Saturday 11 July, with tickets on sale to the public now via trybooking.com.

Dead Puppet Society is a production house and design company creating puppet-based, visual theatre in Australia and the United States. Uniting an old-world aesthetic with cutting edge technical elements the company conjure immersive worlds where the mythic sits alongside the macabre, and the old school meets the technological. Working in an eclectic form of theatre that ignores the boundaries between defined artistic practices they balance artistic collaborations with training and workshops to strengthen the form of puppetry on the international stage.

Inspired by the character and history of West End, West Village reimagines urban living. Contemporary apartments are thoughtfully placed and green spaces blur into a relaxed urban culture. Vibrant pedestrian and retail laneways will provide connectivity through West Village and to surrounding streets. A diverse mix of retailers will make West Village a true marketplace. Restoration of the 1920s Peters Ice Cream factory heritage buildings are at the heart of the project, giving a significant part of history back to the West End and Brisbane communities.

To experience Dead Puppet Society’s larger-than-life Hive Mind installation, head to The Common at West Village between Saturday 27 June and Sunday July 19, 2020.