For the Research
Methodology Unit, I decided to focus on the elusive Barn Owl.
I was drawn to
studying the Barn Owl as I felt they tied in nicely with Shakespearian
literature as owls have a reputation throughout the 15th & 16th century as being
omens of death.
I researched into
the meaning/symbolism of the barn Owl in different cultures and they are mostly
considered a sign of bad luck and quite frequently they are seen as a warning
sign that someone is going to imminently die.
I found a
reference to an Owl in Macbeth "It was the owl that shriek'd, the fatal
bellman (2.2.5-6)" which supposedly relates to ringing of
"the dead bells", which was a form of hand bell used in
Scotland and northern England in conjunction with deaths and funerals
up until the 19th century.
The owl is
therefore referred to as the fatal bellman as it shrieked upon the murder
of Duncan.
For my final piece I decided to design
a Tarot cards to represent the fortune telling of the owl, I decorated them
with silver & copper foil - one to represent night and the other to
represent day.
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