This is the first project I’ve done which doesn’t involve sound in any way (although ‘plants’ comes pretty close).

Solar panels are used to power a pair of ultraviolet LEDs attached to the eyes of a paper-maché bird. These are focused onto a canvas painted with a circle of photochromic paint, so that as the sun powers the LEDs the circular image on the canvas becomes visible. As the intensity of the sunlight changes, so does the intensity of the image on the canvas.

The title comes from the description of an eagle in a medieval bestiary - a peculiar book which describes people’s ideas about the natural world at the time. Animals, both real and imaginary, are discussed in fabulous language, and are used to illustrate moral or biblical concepts.

This type of ‘magical thinking’ forms the basis of the piece, which mixes ‘nature’, ‘technology’, and pre-scientific ways of thinking. It was made for the ‘Sienos (borders)’ exhibition held at ‘Stew’ in Norwich, November 2008.