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Description
Right out the gate from this moodboard, I knew I wanted to do a fortune-telling vending machine with a cat in it... Basically a remix of those Zultan machines. My intention was always to have this feel extremely out of place among everything else. It's more western-style, and definitely is not associated with Shinto good luck. But this came with learning quite a bit!

I try to be culturally aware, especially when I'm dealing with mysticism and things like that in other cultures. But I also want to incorporate what I can, I guess to make it feel sort of authentic. This of course can be hard when I'm not really a part of those cultures, but I did a lot of research on luck in Japan!

Have you ever seen or heard of Omikuji? It is a type of fortune telling in Japan. They even have Omikuji vending machines! Though this vending machine is not an Omikuji-style, it's been pretty neat to learn about different parts of these customs. From what I understand, when you go to most shrines, you can typically pay 100P for a fortune-telling.

However, I wanted this vending machine to basically feel... Unsafe. I avoided traditional good luck charms on it, even though I considered adding some, I didn't want anything that would ward off "bad" spirits, essentially making this machine feel... Sketchy. The colors of the cats are intentional too of course, because I suppose there, calicos are the luckiest color. Black cats, in Japanese culture, protect from illness and ward off evil... But because this machine is supposed to feel a bit foreign in context, I sort of liked the idea of an unlucky western black cat. Take what you will! My work is always intended to be narrative, yet vague enough that you can gather your own story from it.

Description
Right out the gate from this moodboard, I knew I wanted to do a fortune-telling vending machine with a cat in it... Basically a remix of those Zultan machines. My intention was always to have this feel extremely out of place among everything else. It's more western-style, and definitely is not associated with Shinto good luck. But this came with learning quite a bit!

I try to be culturally aware, especially when I'm dealing with mysticism and things like that in other cultures. But I also want to incorporate what I can, I guess to make it feel sort of authentic. This of course can be hard when I'm not really a part of those cultures, but I did a lot of research on luck in Japan!

Have you ever seen or heard of Omikuji? It is a type of fortune telling in Japan. They even have Omikuji vending machines! Though this vending machine is not an Omikuji-style, it's been pretty neat to learn about different parts of these customs. From what I understand, when you go to most shrines, you can typically pay 100P for a fortune-telling.

However, I wanted this vending machine to basically feel... Unsafe. I avoided traditional good luck charms on it, even though I considered adding some, I didn't want anything that would ward off "bad" spirits, essentially making this machine feel... Sketchy. The colors of the cats are intentional too of course, because I suppose there, calicos are the luckiest color. Black cats, in Japanese culture, protect from illness and ward off evil... But because this machine is supposed to feel a bit foreign in context, I sort of liked the idea of an unlucky western black cat. Take what you will! My work is always intended to be narrative, yet vague enough that you can gather your own story from it.