Samsara
Lawrence, Elizabeth
Part play, part personal myth, part decision-making tool, Samsara is a genetic alteration of the tarot card species. Ancient divination systems like the I-Ching and tarot were ahead of their time as interactive narrative systems, being based on principles of pattern recognition, algorithm, randomness, non-linearity, metaphor and modularity. This printed project explores these facets of computational media, while investigating the way visual images create personal meaning.
The 62 cards are comprised of original contemporary photography depicting qualities, principles and archetypes related to creative development. The 22 Major Arcana cards portray strong archetypal constellations, and its linear progression from 0 (The Portal) to 21 (Birth) is a story of transformation. The 40 Minor Arcana cards reflect aspects of qualitative number through 10 sets of 4 cards each. Qualitative number emphasizes the “quality” of a number over its “quantity”; for example, 1 is a point, a beginning, potential, 2 is a line, duality, connection, and so on.
The user formulates a question, then shuffles, cuts and draws, placing these random cards into a pre-determined layout pattern. Each position in a layout helps to direct the operation of the images.
Through contextualizing the cards in the spread according to personal circumstance, cartomancy encourages integrative processes while fostering creative thinking. Reading a spread activates the cognitive processes of imaginative, analogical thinking, pattern recognition, and immersion into the flow state. These in turn promote communication with the subconscious and strengthen intuition, that mystery ingredient so valued by all creatives.