Techno Tarot
By kara stone
Techno Tarot allows the player to contact the cyber-magic-domain and receive a unique tarot reading. It combines new-age mysticism with new-new-age cyborgism. Many people believe that computers can tell the future – from a sort crowd sourcing of communal knowledge – and even more, are the future. Taking that thought alongside something mostly unbelieved like tarot is a comical take on what we believe, why we believe it, and who dispenses it. Beyond any sort of magic, the power of tarot readings comes through human-human affective interaction – picking up on tones of voice, emotional qualities, non-verbal signs – yet when that is taken away and replaced with a randomized system of card drawing, we still want to connect, relate, and believe our computers ‘really gets me.’ Tarot and Techno Tarot is a different kind of play. The pixel deck is based off the traditional Rider-Waite deck with only skin colours and genders changed for more diversity, a deck that has been used for hundreds of years used as magic readings as well as a blending with traditional card games. In a reading, we play with our emotions, our beliefs, our expectations. It is playfully inquisitive and requires an open heart and curiosity.
Kara Stone is an art-maker interested in videogames, interactive arts and traditional crafting. She achieved an MA in Communication and Culture at a joint program at York and Ryerson University, focusing on mental health, affect, feminism, and videogames. She previously completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Production. Her work has been featured in Vice, Wired, The Atlantic, and NPR. It consists of feminist art with a focus on gendered perspectives of affect – but it’s much more fun than it sounds.