Handbag Killers

Lucifer's Lament

Love Is A Rebellious Bird

Previous dispatches were heavily documented in the researchers’ files, but from this point forward evidence consists only of examinations of the scientists' remains and the laboratory’s final audio recordings.  The birds managed to steal the Atropa belladonna plants and forced the plant that so liberated their minds on their human tormentors.  The poison wasn't quick, and for a moment the researchers felt the love of song which previously eluded them but freed the birds.

Deadly Nightshade

The scientists administered the double-dose of Victoria's twilight elixir, and although this caused further disorientation, the creatures did not perish as the scientists hoped, nor did they grow more amenable towards their creators.  Tragically wrong, the creatures began to understand their newfound avian natures and grew increasingly rebellious and openly insolent.

Coup Mélancolique

The creatures began to gather and play loudly through the night, only willing to sing outside the scientists' carefully applied experimental parameters.  The researchers still believed they could regain control, as the creatures still hesitated before openly disobeying their creators. The scientists believed doubling the dose would either end the trials, or leave the birds increasingly dependent.

Resistance

The continued dosage further made the creatures happier for the joys of song, but the initial euphoria was unsustainable. Hallucinations and nightmares eventually warped the creatures’ minds, leading to disorientation and madness.

Delight & Delirium

The Atropa belladonna overdose left the creatures disoriented, but they quickly began to grasp more innovative sounds.  Alongside the increased love of song came extreme instability and a growing awareness of impending death.  The dosage was maintained in the hopes that a twilight dream would overcome the creatures and they would remain amenable to further experimentation.

Preliminary Findings

Fairies of the forest once used deadly nightshade to make poison-tipped arrows. Ancient Romans used it as a poisonous tool of murder.  The plant has a long history as an anesthetic agent; Queen Victoria endured childbirth in a “twilight sleep” partially induced by belladonna. The scientists made an overwhelmingly potent tincture and introduce it to the creatures’ food supply. The die was cast, for better or for worse.

Crossing The Rubicon

Birds spread the seed of the plant and are less susceptible to its negative effects. In order to hasten the rate of the creatures’ musical advance, the scientists considered using an even more extreme dose of the psychoactive plant, allowing the birds to experience states impossible for humankind.

Belladonna Hypothesis

The scientists used high doses of Atropa belladonna to calm the infected creatures — a heavy dose was required to calm them, and had the creatures still been purely human they most certainly would be dead.

Sedative Psychosis

Passionately inspired by the work of Doctor Victor Frankenstein, a pair of amoral & hypermusical scientists injected human subjects with an attenuated avian viral strain, hoping to alter their DNA for rapid musical advancement.

Victoriana

L'amour est un oiseau rebelle

From a secret laboratory deep in the Antarctic tundra, our collective combines old and new forms with mind-bending approaches to acoustic instruments. We play and balance volumes around a tascam field recorder to capture the raw, live results of our experiments. If you enjoy these vignettes, please contact wearetheiamania@gmail.com to explore future collaborations.

Theia Mania Collective

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