The EAGLE and The PELICAN

On the north side of Castle Mill Works, David Faithfull's large-scale poster/prints have been installed relating to the opposing dark and light characteristics of the moon and eclipses. 

These also refer to Isaac Newton’s intellectual and spiritual dichotomy, particularly his extensive Alchemical studies into the occult and Chronology.

Here the pelican - the Alchemical vessel of circulatory distillation and the symbol of sacrifice, is contrasted with the eagle - a complex mythological symbol, representing rebirth and renewal, the victory of light over darkness, yet at times negatively, as the baseness of our consuming passions. 

Of course the eagle’s additional cultural reference, as the vessel that carried Armstrong and Aldrin to their epic moon landing adjacent to the sea of tranquillity in 1969, is enshrined deeply within our collective consciousnesses.