The ‘bike Frankenstein’ installation is part of this year’s edition of the sound and light experience
An Edinburgh Napier University (ENU) product design student’s work is up in lights this month – after being chosen to feature in popular outdoor spectacle The Enchanted Forest.
Agata Bula’s sculpture, entitled Orbis, is one of the installations at the renowned autumnal sound and light experience, which draws tens of thousands of visitors to Faskally Wood in Pitlochry every year.
Orbis was designed to fit this year’s theme of ‘Stop the Clock: The 25th Hour’, marking The Enchanted Forest’s 25th anniversary. This edition promises to ‘transport visitors into a playful and dreamlike world where clocks misbehave, minutes drift and the ordinary rules of reality begin to unravel’.
Agata’s design uses bicycle components to create four rotating discs, which produce changing patterns of light and shadow. Visitors will power it by hand, creating a continuous circular movement that represents time passing and repeating.
The project has formed part of her final year of study on ENU’s BDes (Hons) Product Design degree.
The 39-year-old, who is originally from Poland and now lives in Edinburgh, was chosen from ENU’s Product Design students tasked with building an interactive installation as part of their coursework.
Agata said: “It has been such a pleasure to work with The Enchanted Forest on this installation. It has been my favourite thing I've done as part of my studies.
“I've worked with the team since February to design Orbis step by step. They gave me absolute freedom to do what I wanted, while offering direction and picking the designs they liked the most.
“I tried to do something out of this world, without a clear beginning or end, to fit in with the 25th hour theme.
“I had many ideas but the one I picked was based around a kinetic sculpture, to give a psychedelic effect. In the end, I cut up old bikes and built a kind of bike Frankenstein.
“We thought it would be more engaging to make it hand-powered, so people can turn it with a handle. It needed to work for children and adults - so it has been fully tested by my kids!
“It has been pretty intense, but it is so exciting to see it lit up in the forest.”
Agata previously studied Furniture Craftsmanship with Design at City of Glasgow College, and says the programme at Edinburgh Napier has taken her creative endeavours to the next level.
“I love the abstract stuff, and this programme has helped me discover the areas of product design I like.
“I started with a course making furniture in Glasgow during covid. I have a background in sewing and love any kind of craft or creative building.
“Before I came to Edinburgh Napier, what I was designing before was on a piece of paper. On the course I have learned a lot about how I make it a reality and do this going forward.”
The Enchanted Forest runs until 8 November 2026, with tickets available now.