Take that job?
The Existential Calculator
…solving first-world problems through inappropriately technical means
- 9" x 9"
- Soft-touch laminated paper
- Includes instructions
- Printed in LA (assembled by me in NYC)
$10
This is a paper calculation wheel (otherwise known as a volvelle) which answers the question "Should I take that job?" based on the considerations of fit, pay, ethics, and working conditions.
The lo-fi prognosication device then yields a fortune color, predicting that your decisions will land you either in red "perfect job" territory of self-righteousness (where "you might actually touch the void") or all the way across the spectrum in the brown zone of shitty jobs ("you’ll discover new ways to cultivate your sense of humor").
(It equally makes fun of every possible outcome, in other words.)
*A volvelle is a paper tool that converts user inputs into answers via the *magic* of die cuts. They are often described as rudimentary, single-function predecessors to the computer in the contemporaneous literature because they “compute things" (so consider it the cheapest computer you've ever purchased.)
More info here »
Project inspired by Joseph Weizenbaum's Rogerian therapist computer program, ELIZA. Originally created (in a slightly different format) for Adobe.