Jeremy Deller's 'Bats in Space'

Artist Jeremy Deller has a long-standing fascination with bats. His Turner Prize-winning installation Memory Bucket (2004) included footage of vast numbers of bats flying out of a cave in Texas, a subject he returned to for his recent retrospective at the Hayward Gallery, where visitors could don glasses to watch the spectacle in 3D.

Deller's work often involves collaboration, whether it's staging a full-scale re-enactment of The Battle of Orgreave or harnessing the creative efforts of Manic Street Preachers fans in The Uses of Literacy. For the next two weeks, his project in the vicinity of the Olympic site results in a sort of collaboration with bats themselves.

Jeremy Deller: Bats in Space sees the artist team up with bat scientist Professor Kate Jones with the aim of bringing the hidden world of bat communication to life. The project is curated by Alice Sharp of the art and environmental science organisation Invisible Dust, which works with artists and scientists in exploring issues such as climate change, air pollution and biodiversity.

Until 13 July there are nightly bat walks along the Greenway in east London in which participants are given bat detectors and mobile devices to both hear and see the noises made by bats in the area, normally undetectable to the human ear.

Watch the video above for some of Kate Jones and Jeremy Deller's favourite bat facts, footage of bats at close quarters from Monday's launch event and a sneak preview of what to expect on a bat walk. Interviews by Eleanor Mills.

• Visit the Invisible Dust website for more information and to book a bat walk.

• Royal Academy of Arts