What is it?
Hold the “Acquire” button for thirty seconds to destroy the machine, perhaps.
“Validate” and “develop” are two steps of the digital product development process. “Acquire” is one unspoken goal of this process: for a startup to be absorbed by a larger company, or, more rarely, purchased by an individual.
When “Birdsight (Develop/Validate/Acquire)” is idle, it emits various, generally calming noises, such as birdsong, conversational hubbub, and the Brood X cicadas (also representing sources of annoyance to some). A large internal subwoofer and a transducer mounted behind its front panel are balanced to suit its particular environs; the artwork has external controls for muting and volume adjustment.
Once the button is pressed, this soundscape transforms into one of doom: mechanistic grinding, wild cries, leaking plumbing. This continues as long as the button is held.
If it is held for a while, strange lights begin to appear from the device; longer, and “smoke” (water vapor) begins to pour out, at progressively higher speeds; finally, the tempest ceases at a stroke, the lights go white, and “smoke” silently pours out of the machine.
The top surface of “Birdsight” is covered in faux bird droppings (really cement, paint, and wax). All of the paint and visible aging on “Birdsight” was added by the artist; it was previously blue, housing the electronics of Madness Method.
