Stormfruit Etching

This copper plate is etched with an almost pleasantly interpretive scene of lightning striking a willow tree growing strange fruit. Where the lightning blasts the tree, tiny slivers of iron have been carefully inserted; picking it up always causes an uncomfortable shock.

I verified the claim attached to this tablet at auction: that any tree this tablet is nailed to will be struck by lightning whenever a storm blows through; if it survives the blast, the fruit from the etching grow from its branches. When eaten, they taste of ozone and the consumer’s breath is filled with lightning that crackles between their teeth. A refreshingly enlightened (for a Pentolan artisan) work.