Below are artist impressions for a new outdoor artwork. The images were created using a mix of AI and editing software. The work is in prototype stage and can be made available for touring indoors and outdoors.

It consists in giant circular light boxes with images of cormorants in flight, which turn and animate in front of our eyes. It uses the technique of the thaumatrope, an optical toy that was popular in the 19th century: a disk with a picture on each side was attached to two pieces of string, and when the strings were twirled quickly between the fingers, the two pictures appeared to blend into one.

This design originates from idea development for Liverpool, the cormorants referring to the two Liver Birds bronze sculptures sitting on top of the iconic Royal Liver Building, and birds often seen along the river Mersey. A popular local story told about them is that they are chained down, for if they were to fly away the River Mersey would burst its banks and flood the city of Liverpool. This work aims to release the birds for a moment to let them fly, alluding to current climate worries of ice melting and sea level rising.