Macrocosm - Giant Floating Artwork on Cockle Bay

A gigantic, technicolour artwork is afloat in Darling Harbour this summer, representing the tiny, fragile worlds and creatures under the surface of the harbour.

Underneath the inky surface of Darling Harbour, there are trillions of tiny organisms and creatures existing and interacting, unseen by our eyes. Macrocosm, a giant floating artwork, is recreating these tiny worlds above water for all of us to see.

Instead of being teeny, tiny - they are blown up to gigantic proportions, floating atop the harbour - inviting you to think about the microscopic worlds below us and their own small actions as part of a bigger picture. The works are vibrant and colourful, crafted right here in Sydney by Goldberg Aberline Studio.

These beautiful designs were printed onto lightweight “green” fabric made from recycled PET drinking bottles, reinforcing the clean oceans theme. Explore it by day to see its vivid prints, or by night when it's internally illuminated.

Want to see Macrocosm up close? Hiring a pedal boat for a better view is one of the best things to do in Sydney this summer.
 

"We wanted the work to be like an explosion of creativity, overflowing with scribbles and paint splotches… It was important to us that in this very digital era that the work was obviously handmade …by humans.” - Maurice Goldberg

“Macrocosm was inspired by a diving experience in the Gilli Islands in Indonesia - an area which had enduring ‘dynamite fishing’ during the eighties and was struggling to regrow. The current drifted us through hundreds of metres of decimated reefs, the broken coral on the sea bed like dead bones. Then in the middle of all this destruction, we came across a tiny outcrop of new coral that had regenerated, no bigger than a basketball, but full of colour and movement - with two little clown fish looking so proud of their new home. It was one of the most positive things we've ever seen and in a way, Macrocosm is a portrait of that little world and of hope for the whole world ” - Matthew Aberline

This free event was part of the Festival of Place, a year long celebration of our connection to our incredible public spaces - and to each other.