A bird built to be seen head-on
The Wing-Spread Phoenix is shaped for the frontal view. A phoenix in full display is about the spread, so the figure is built narrow in depth and wide across the wings, which means the best photograph is taken straight on, from the path that leads to it. The wing-flap is the reason a visitor stops: a bird that opens its wings once and holds is a sculpture, but one that beats slowly is alive.
The wing-flap linkage
The actuated movement is a wing-flap driven by a 24V DC motor through linkage on each side. The two wings are linked so they beat together rather than independently, which keeps the silhouette balanced as it moves. Linkage drive was chosen because it holds the open pose with no air supply and lets the flap speed be set to the crowd, a slow beat for a quiet garden and a quicker one for a busy mall.
Feathers and light that move together
The wings are built from layered silk feathers over wire, hand-painted so the plumage reads as depth rather than a flat panel, and this layering is what gives the flap its volume. The lighting is DMX-addressable and synced to the wing beat, so the colour can sweep across the feathers in time with the motion, or hold a single tone when the wings are still. Keeping light and movement on one control lets a venue programme a full sequence or a calm static glow.
Access, weather and wing clearance
Motion hardware on the phoenix carries an outdoor IP rating, and the figure is rated across -30 C to +50 C. In frost or heavy rain the flap can be paused from the controller, leaving the phoenix illuminated and still with wings open. The drives sit in an accessible body compartment, so routine service does not mean removing feathers, and installation drawings ship with the piece.
Tuning the light to the venue
The phoenix is handed over with its DMX controller and a zone map, so the venue controls the light after we leave. The wings are one addressable zone and the body another, which lets an operator hold a single colour or run the sweep with the beat. On site the figure is fixed to a level hardstanding pad facing the main approach, because the spread reads only from the front, and the flap speed is set during commissioning to the crowd.
