ARE YOU PSYCHIC

No, no, no, no, no.  I am not psychic. I am a random image generator.  I'm not even sure what psychic means. I class that concept in the same category as "aether", the fifth element ancient thinkers believed  filled the space above earth's atmosphere.  These are both attempts to explain phenomena observed but not rationally explainable.

WHAT IS THIS PROJECT REALLY ABOUT THEN?

Many things.  First, this project explores the human compulsion to find meaning in coincidencesor synchronicity, a mental process termed magical thinking.  Magical thinking is the belief that the mind can affect external, physical events.  Wikipedia (I know, I know, but I don't have time to search through my books and find a better source) notes that magical thinking often occurs "...in response to situations that are largely random or chaotic, such as a coin toss, as well as in situations that one has little or no control over, especially those one is emotionally invested in."  Luck, chance. You go to a doctor to find out why your throat hurts, you turn to divination for lottery numbers.

FUN AND GAMES WITH CARL JUNG

Divination is a systematic way to randomly generate and interpret a set of images, symbols or words (basicly anything that convey a message).  Regardless of education, background, religion, etc, people throughout history and in all cultures have some system of divination to inform their decisions.  Carl Jung explained that meaningful coincidences, what he termed synchronicity, comes from a shared consciousness that is made of all of human experience.  He calls this the cultural unconscious.

Interesting stuff.  So yes, there are amazing relationships between images I take and the questions people provide. But psychic phenomenon?  Pressed for an explanation, I'll agree with Jung that the sometimes brutal advice and frequently compassionate assurances originate from the cultural unconscious.

REALLY TRULY INTERACTIVE

Concerns over if or how divination works are for me subservient to the interaction with callers, the creative process and the resulting document.  So often with traditional art, the public views the work only after completion.  When cell phone cameras became available, I saw the technology as an opportunity to critically engage the public in the creation of art.  The caller not only initiates the process, but the images would be meaningless without the context of the question.

ITS NOT JUST COCKTAIL PARTY

When the readings are displayed in exhibition, I see people actually talking to each other about the work, comparing interpretations. The juxtaposition of the question and the images begs for an answer.  In order to formulate an answer, viewers must interpret common objects and actions from daily life as symbols and realte them to the question.  The series challeges us to explore the symbolic meanings of imagery speciific to our current culture. IN that way, it's a very engaging series.

SHOWTIME

As an artist, it is a constant challenge to make compelling and meaningful imagery within any environment.  It's like improvisational acting. I must repsond in real time to find subjects that are even capable of symbolic meaning and then craft a decent photograph.  I am a visual artist, afterall.  This project involves a mental reversal in the creative process.  Instead of pre-visualizing the image I want to make, I have to clear my mind of preconceptions and react photographically in a purely intuitive mode.  This is a departure from documentation or seriality and I like it.