James Shefik 

In 2006 the research company AeroVironment was awarded a $4 million contract to develop a naturally flying hummingbird drone with surveillance capabilities for DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration. This, along with the revelations of widespread governmental domestic spying was the impetus for the installation piece “I’ve Not Had Enough of You”. I cast and hand painted 100 hummingbirds, 98 with faux cameras in their throats and two with  real cameras to send a .4 second delayed video to monitor hung in the viewers space. 

 The installation takes on a life of it’s own both in how people interact with hummingbirds and again when they realize they are also a key part of the installation.