The Messenger is a 5 metre tall puppet made by A Blanck Canvas

It looks like it’s made out of a tonne of pure steel and its hips swagger like those of a giant Elvis returned from the heavens. Thankfully not as heavy as it looks, but it does require eight puppeteers to steer it. Made from a lightweight foam, the puppet is only about 15 kilograms but the chassis that rolls along behind is loaded with hundreds of kilograms in counterweight.

It flies six metres in the air, with 30 metres of LED lights inside that change from deep purples and reds to cool blues and greens.

It’s message is not bound by one religion. Its giant hand will point – like in Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam – to members of the crowd as it recites quotes from various spiritual figures and texts, from the Koran to John Lennon, the Bible to Bob Marley.

The Messenger was part of White Night Melbourne and White Night Ballarat in 2017 and 2018, and was then commissioned as pre-game entertainment for a football charity game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for Beyond Blue.

Bo Kitty was the production manager for these events and continues to work with the Messenger and the Blanck canvas crew.