DMI Newsletter
Spring 2006 Thesis Presentations
DMI celebrated five graduate thesis presentations in the spring of 2006.
In this newsletter, we feature Elizabeth Lawrence's thesis.
Elizabeth Lawrence
Ancient Divination Parallels New Media: Cartomancy in an Interactive Context
Abstract
For centuries, the tarot has been an interactive narrative system employing such new media principles as nonlinearity, randomness, modularity, and algorithm.
As a visual system employing symbolic "open imagery," cartomancy facilitates cognitive processes such analogical thinking, pattern recognition, and communication with the unconscious; processes which serve to foster creativity, intuition, and psychic integration in the participant.
The exploration of creating personal meaning through interactivity was explored through the development of a contemporary tarot featuring original photography.