The Moody Wolpertinger, 2018
performance, mixed media

       The Moody Wolpertinger project is a work inspired by German Folklore. According to the legend, a Wolpertinger is a hybrid creature which lives in the Bavarian forest. Common examples can be found on the walls of many German restaurants which may include variations of taxedermized creatures such as the head of a rabbit, with deer antlers, sharp canines, and hawk wings. The Moody Wolpertinger is the artist's own hybrid version with technological sensors, Arduino code and a performance elements added to the folklore to help bring the legend to life. It is an experiential artwork where performance and human interactions with the creature work with temperature and light sensors to activate coloured lights in the eyes. The different eye colour lights represented the various moods of the Wolpertinger.  The colour purple is the neutral stance, its mood swings to red to indicate anger and green to indicate calmness. The art project is also inspired by how animal behaviour is used to communicate with people, but instead of actions and noises, the Moody Wolpertinger expresses emotion through colour.