As written by Rober Faires at the Austin Chronicle in September 2011:
Is it a peacock? A pregnant octopus? A cosmic spider? Or just the best Mardi Gras throne this side of the Big Easy? Sculptor James Talbot says yes, yes, yes, and yes. The Bouldin Creek artist – you may know his home that doubles as a giant work of art, Casa Neverlandia – is happy for you to see in it whatever you want. He himself just wanted to create a shrine for South Austin, and after some eight years of working with the city's Art in Public Places program and some 2,100 hours of his own time constructing the steel armature, filling it with concrete, and covering it with mosaic tile, he made one.
Unseen from the outside but an integral part of Your Essential Magnificence, as Talbot has titled the work, are items from more than 60 South Austin institutions – everything from a brick from the Armadillo World Headquarters to a chair from the Broken Spoke to a frying pan from Nueva Onda. The piece sits at the corner of South Congress and Live Oak and is waiting for you to come take a seat.