Skin cancer is known as Australia’s ‘national cancer’ with one Australian losing their life every six hours to melanoma – the deadliest form. Yet skin cancer is largely preventable and if caught early enough, can be curable. Despite this, and the numerous sun-safety campaigns over the years, unfortunately we’re just not heeding the warnings and getting a tan is still seen as a sign of vitality and health.

So, how then do we create a campaign that tackles one of our nation's biggest health crises?

The team behind the work set out to raise awareness of the dangers of skin cancer by essentially ‘giving the beach cancer.’ The sculpture, made from recycled PET polyester inflatables, underwent five transformations in size and color mimicking the growth of a real melanoma. Over the course of the two-week festival, it gradually grew to five times its original size and changed colouring - effectively illustrating the progression of skin cancer.

The evolving sculpture, which changed daily, set out to educate the Australian public on the crucial signs to look for with a suspicious mole. It amplified the importance of prevention and early disease detection and made Australians re-think their relationship with the sun.