e. Menura supurba by KUUKI (ISEA 2009) is an interactive artwork that explores the paradox between our fascination with the exotic, and our potentially dystopic future devoid of many animal species. The work hybridises seventeenth to early twentieth century aesthetics with refined post-consumer waste materials, to create a simulacra of a Lyre bird.
The Australian Lyre bird (initially designated Menura superba) have the remarkable ability to mimic sounds, giving it one of the most complex calls of any bird. The male uses these calls to attract a mate. Lyre birds have been documented mimicking camera shutters, flute and piano melodies, even chain saws.