Tiny Object Oracle (2019)
Mixed media
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.
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.
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.