Tiny Object Oracle (2019)

Mixed media

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The Tiny Object Oracle is a mobile tool for collaborative divination work and reflection. Made during a residency with Casa Lu, in Mexico City, this oracle contains 36 small, haunted (or otherwise harmless) objects, found in and around the city. Each object carries a multitude of meanings that draw on the cultural, historical, functional, spiritual or personal associations of the object.

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In a reading, myself and a querent use two rolls of the dice to cast an object. From there, we reflect together on personal or collective meanings for the object, musing on memories, associations, and feelings.

 

A singular, rolled sock, for instance, lost from its mate, is one object that could mean exploration, adventure, or being "lost at sea". It's not the lost sock that we have, however; it's the found sock. It references an other that is not there. It tethers to a memory of partners past, a twin no-longer. The divinatory meanings here then could be nostalgia, looking back, partnership, adventure, or needing homey comforts.

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The divinatory meanings of the objects are not prescriptive. Rather, their meaning derives from the conversation between the reader and the querent. It is in this way a collaboration between viewer and artist, and furthermore with the city that offered these objects in small, sometimes serendipitous moments of discovery.

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