Tiny Gods

Creating new Tiny Gods though participative art.

Introduction

Tiny Gods is a low-tech interactive installation that invites participants to create new gods for themselves and others. Tiny Gods are imagined to be small and very focused deities that help out with mundane daily tasks, such as preventing you from over-salting your food, or holding the train doors open for the extra 10 seconds you need not to be late. 

A Tiny Gods installation takes place in a decorated, shrine-like space. On entering, the audience is invited to admire the existing gods and then take a paper lantern, decorate it with their own god, and hang it up again. Coloured lighting, atmospheric music, and scattered offerings create a space of calm, refuge, and reflection.

Background

This work was developed at the Schmiede Media Arts residency in 2017. I had worked on a number of interactive installations using media arts technologies (computer vision, social media interaction, movement tracking) over the past few years, and I noticed that often more simple methods of interaction created more delight and freedom in the participants. With this in mind, and my laptop reaching the end of its lifespan, I decided I wanted a break from digital tools and to do some creating in the physical world.

The idea for Tiny Gods is directly influenced by the work of Neil Gaiman in American Gods, Terry Pratchett in the Discworld novels, and Amy Tan in The Kitchen God's Wife. In these novels, people create the gods they need in a given moment. Particularly in Gaiman's and Pratchett's works, the gods themselves are real, but they are brought to life and given power by the act of belief. New gods are born and rise and old gods wither and die with the changes in human history. 

Having grown up in the Anglican/Protestant tradition and as an adult living in a largely secular society and social group, I'm fascinated by the absence of small gods in the world view that surrounds me. I'm missing the animist gods of crossroads and waterholes and fishing nets, the Catholic saints, the house spirits under the stove. The intimacy, specificity, capriciousness, and everyday nature of these beings, living among us but not like us, is what I find compelling.

I wanted to think about what would be the contemporary replacements for the "hearth gods". I also think there's a possibility that praying to them in times of need (running for a train, looking for lost keys) could be psychologically beneficial. I'm not suggesting the gods are real, but that perhaps it's possible to simultaneously know they are only superstitions and yet still derive comfort from appealing to them.

Presentation

The work was presented at the Schmiede Werkschau, a public event held at the end of the residency. The space was a peaceful refuge in contrast to the large, dark, and loud industrial spaces throughout the building, and just a relaxed place to hang out. Lots of gods were made! We ran out of space on the lanterns in the end. I was very happy with the response to the installation.

Open Source

I've been thinking about the idea of open source artworks recently. I'm interested in going beyond making the tools we use (3D printing, computer graphics) open source, and thinking about how artworks themselves can be made free for all to use, reproducible, and open to contributions from others. So here's how you can make your own Tiny Gods installation.

We presented this work at a large art exhibition / party / festival in a former industrial space. We found the space worked really well as a respite from being in a large, dark, and noisy factory building. I imagine Tiny Gods would also work at an open air festival, perhaps being inside a dark tent or in the shade as a contrast to an open and sunny festival field. It might also work as an activity set up at a party, especially if there are both children and adults present.

Materials

• Paper lanterns (or just sheets of paper)
• A method for hanging the lanterns/finished sheets. We used glow-in-the-dark balloons blown up to just the right size that the lantern would slip over the balloon and the grip of the rubber would hold them in place. Thumbtacks, string, or pegs might be other solutions.
• Pens/pencils/markers
• Ambient music
• Lights
• Offerings and decorations

Method

• Select the space for the installation. Ideally you could close it off from the surrounding area. We used garbage bags cut open to make curtains. A small room would also work.
• Decorate your shrine however you like. We used paper chains and origami stars, plastic flowers, and fairy lights. We also placed "offerings" in the form of fruit and alcoholic drinks (some of our guests took the latter as offerings to them).
• Write up some instructions to your guests and place in a prominent location. Our instructions were:
  1. Admire the Tiny Gods.
  2. Take down a paper lantern.
  3. Draw your own Tiny God.
  4. Hang up your Tiny God for everyone to admire.
• Set up the lighting. We had two theatre lights programmed to cycle through all colours, but some strategically placed lamps would also work.
• Set up the music to play on repeat.
• Invite your guests in and enjoy!

Things to think about

• We held open drawing sessions before the night of the event where people could draw a Tiny God. We used these as an opportunity to explain the concept of Tiny Gods (small deities that help you through mundane daily tasks). Therefore we already had several Tiny Gods in the space before the first guests arrived, and people seemed to grasp the concept from looking at the existing drawings. If you don't have the chance to do this preparation beforehand, consider either drawing a few gods yourself to kick-start the process, or adding more context to the instruction sheet.
• We had a fairly small space with a high ceiling. If you have a little more room you might consider making a space for people to sit and reflect, such as a rug and/or chairs. Consider access for people with various physical abilities. We found that a surprising number of people wanted to just stay and hang out in the space.
• Consider extending Tiny Gods! What else could gods be made from (papier-mâché, clay, with digital tools)? Could people take their god away with them at the end, or gift a god to another participant?
• Please reach out if you do have a Tiny Gods installation of your own. I'd love to hear about it. Email me at mail@ this website.

Installation

September 2017
Schmiede Werkschau
Hallein, Austria

Role

Concept
Construction
Documentation

Collaborators

Paul Zubrinich
Kerstin Unger
Smiths

Tools and Technology

After Effects
Pen and paper