Big Idea Book

 Superstition

My "book", a term I use loosely as you can see, explores Superstition.  I chose this shape because it resembles a magic 8 ball.  The "pages" make up the sides of the enclosed die, so the order in which we see them is left to chance.  Chance and certainty, the known and the unknown, and the fear that these dichotomies produce underscores our human inclination toward superstition and faith.  Thus, the inside surface of the sphere is lined with fortune cookie scrolls which predict our future and reinforce our place in the present.

The outer shell was created through a similar process using strips of black construction paper.  They are blank; unknown.  One must look inside for clues to the future.

Not a very superstitious person myself, I noticed and interesting phenomenon occurring as I read and glued each fortune cookie scroll into place.  A rhythm began to emerge.  Each one became a mantra.  I found myself valuing some more than others, almost believing in those that held promise and relevance for me.  It is this inclination toward pattern recognition, 

Cognite' Tute'-Latin, meaning "think for yourself".

meaning making, and faith that gives these useless little scraps of paper power.  One of the "pages" reads, " human beings have an innate desire to seek patterns, even when there are none to be found".  This is our nature, at the root of superstition, ritual, and faith.  To illustrate this visually, I covered one of the "pages" in tally marks, cross hatching at random rather than regular intervals.  The eye wants to look for pattern.  The mind wants to resolve a puzzle that does not exist.

I also contemplated the relationship between

superstition and ritual; how they are the same and why they are different.  I concluded that rituals, as I define them, are active and empowering.  We may choose, for example, to meditate or pray at a certain time each day to augment our health and spiritual well-being and bring stability and order to our lives.  Superstition, on the other hand, is passive and usually born out of fear; fears which are often unfounded or irrational.  It is about things that may or may not happen to us, not about actively shaping our lives, our hearts, and our minds.  Superstition, is would seem, is the seedy, suspicious cousin of ritual, faith, and meaning.  As a result, the term bears a slightly derogatory connotation.  It is up to the practitioner to transcend this boundary by evaluating and understanding the meaning, purpose, and value of the ritual.

All in all, there turned out to be much more depth to this subject than I had ever anticipated.