The Oraclebird Cart is the traveling version of the Gentle Oraclebird installation. It introduces a performance element, and gives participants gentle fortunes using a scaled down version of the divination board.
Like its predecessor, it is an exploration of kindness and ritual, using a divination mechanism inspired and derived from the Chinese tradition of "lottery sticks," tarot decks, and carnival-based fortune telling mechanisms. As an artist and builder, I am fascinated by the human impulse to create order and meaning by creating ritual, especially in a difficult and unstable universe. A gentle and considerate fiction, the Oraclebird is a character created to offer a considerate and tender fortune for those who may need an encouraging word.
This installation premiered at Indiecade’s Night Games 2019, where it was an Official Nominee.
Participants were asked to hold a question in their head, and select a sphere of their choice(an assortment of marbles and small balls) and toss it into the divination board. The hole that the ball fell into would correspond with the fortune they were handed, as the Oraclebird read it aloud to them.
(all Indiecade photos are from the Indiecade Night Games official gallery!)
The Oraclebird cart was built entirely from reused and recycled materials, including leftover lumber from previous projects, redwood from my deck remodel, an old art case that used to belong to my spouse’s grandmother, and two berry picking crates.