Divination Objects, 2019-2020
Ink on paper, woven
50 x 32 inches

Divination Objects are paper tapestries created by first splicing, then weaving together ink-stained drawings and phrases from academic teaching evaluation surveys. The work draws from the ikat technique: unlike many weaving processes where patterns emerge by alternating different colored fibers during weaving, ikat requires pre-dyeing the fibers before they are woven. This process demands an anticipatory imagination, as the weaver must predict how patterns on the horizontal and vertical fibers will align in the finished tapestry.

Engaging with the anticipatory nature of ikat, Divination Objects explores notions of futurity and attitudes toward learning, examining anticipation as both a liberatory pedagogical strategy and an instrument of institutional control. The selected to-be-ranked survey phrases—such as “The instructor made it clear what students were expected to learn” and “I can see ways that content learned in this course will be useful for me”—compress the timeline of learning into a closed loop, reinforcing a risk-averse pedagogy driven by probability rather than vulnerability. As students navigate precarity and an uncertain future, ranking and assessing knowledge provides a fleeting sense of control.This work asks how trust—an expectant, interdependent state—might be reclaimed as a temporal framework within and beyond the university.