Davinci Suresh built a rearing 25-ft Trojan Horse from 850kg of e-waste for Cocon 2026

Cocon, the international hacking and cybersecurity conference organised by Kerala Police at Bolgatty, Kochi, wanted an installation to raise awareness of cyber deception. Artist Davinci Suresh took on the commission with the Kerala Police Cyberdome.

Build the Trojan horse of Greek legend — the namesake of computer viruses — as a 25-foot rearing sculpture made entirely of electronic waste.

Over six weeks in his Kodungallur studio, Suresh and a team of 10-12 mounted 700-850kg of scrap onto a 16-foot iron skeleton with three fibreglass layers: keys from about 50 dead keyboards for hooves, hundreds of cables for mane and tail, blue LED eyes, and small TV circuit boards cladding the curves because flat PC motherboards would not bend. The sculpture moved to Bolgatty in 12 sections on four crane-loaded trucks and was reassembled in a day.

Billed by the artist as the first e-waste sculpture of its scale in India and the country's tallest cybersecurity art installation, it became the visual centerpiece of Cocon 2026, with talks under way to install it permanently in Fort Kochi's Nehru Park.

At Cocon 2026, the international hacking and cybersecurity conference organised by Kerala Police at Bolgatty in Kochi, the attraction was not a keynote but a 25-foot rearing horse built from electronic waste. Artist Davinci Suresh created it — about two tonnes of sculpture, 700-850kg of it scrapped electronics — billed as India's tallest cybersecurity art installation from e-waste.

The ancient legend maps onto the threat: Greek soldiers hid inside a gift horse to destroy Troy, and the Trojan virus hides inside plausible files. The detailing carries it — keys salvaged from about 50 dismantled keyboards form the hooves, hundreds of insulated cables make up the mane and tail, blue LED bulbs glow as the eyes, and the curves are clad in small circuit boards stripped from televisions, because flat PC motherboards could not bend. A 16-foot iron skeleton, three fibreglass layers, sealants and varnish hold it together outdoors.

Execution was as much logistics as art: six weeks of fabrication, parts sourced after extensive searches from scrap recycling yards in Pattambi, transport in 12 sections on four vehicles using cranes, and reassembly at the venue within a day. Cartoonist Anoop Radhakrishnan connected Suresh with the Cocon organisers, and SP (Cyber Operations) Ankit Asokan visited the workshop during fabrication. The structural base and fibreglass alone cost four to five times more than the electronic waste.

The installation stood at Bolgatty for the conference as part of Cocon's initiative to raise awareness of cyber deception and online exploitation. Suresh said discussions are under way with Kochi Corporation authorities to relocate it permanently to Nehru Park in Fort Kochi, pending administrative approvals; until then it goes into safe storage.

The material is the message: a sculpture about Trojan viruses built from the very discarded devices those viruses live in.

The ancient Greek legend gives a technical threat a story anyone can read at a glance, no jargon required.

Scale as statement — at 25 feet and two tonnes it claims to be the first e-waste sculpture of its scale in India, turning conference decor into an argument for e-waste reuse.

A metaphor lands hardest when built in its namesake material: a warning about Trojan viruses hits differently as an actual rearing horse made of discarded devices.

The horse remained at Bolgatty through Cocon 2026. Suresh said talks are under way with Kochi Corporation to give it a permanent home in Nehru Park, Fort Kochi, subject to administrative approvals; until the clearances come through it will be moved to safe storage. Final expenditure was still being tallied as incidental costs accumulated.