Katya Tylevitch and Mikkel Sommer
Laurence King Publishing, 2017
ISBN 978-1-78627-013-9
I bought this deck on eBay, and was pleasantly surprised when it arrived. It is definitely a talking point!
The box is high quality, with a thematic canvas texture, and beautiful gold gilded details fanning out over the box. Mikkel Sommer's iconic art emblazes the front, with instantly recognisable artists.
Upon opening the box, I soon discovered that it trying to do something that most decks don't do. I personally don't see it as really being an oracle per se. It is more a muse deck, a space for drawing inspiration from. It sort of says this on the front "creative and life inspiration from the great artists", but I was still expecting a divinatory deck.
The creators have drawn inspiration from the artists, and then they share that in a way which inspires the reader. And that is beautiful!
These 50 cards are made on a thick, smooth stock. They are a bit of a clumsy shuffle, but nicely textured. Each card contains an accurate and characterful image of the artist, in an imagined environment of their own artwork. So you get an instant feel for who this person is and what they created. They'd actually be excellent flash cards for an art student! Some of the images contain nudity, and while it is tasteful and artistic, it is also audacious so not for a prudish audience. However the art is in a kitschy and bold style, which lifts the spirits, and each card instantly evokes the artist that it is an homage to.
Sadly I must say, diversity wise this misses the mark and there is a gaping gender and racial bias. Of the 50 cards, only 8 are women. I honestly don't know the races of everyone in the cards, but I can say all the cards except one were painted using Caucasian skin tones. This includes Frida Kahlo, who appears as a white woman in this deck. It's a letdown, and also seems out of touch with the target market of young, hip, artsy types.
Each card contains 3 statements of guidance, one for life, one for work and one for inspiration. Oracles are often interpretive, but this is so interpretive that it really does take it a step away from being a divinatory deck and more a deck for fun, musing, to discover the art world, or even for art lovers to giggle at. For an example, I just pulled a card. Joseph Beuys reads "You also contribute to humanity's Gesamtkunstwerk", "Make sure your rabies shots are up to date", and "symbolism is just one ambulance ride away". What does this mean? Good luck finding out! Ha!
The book is no little white book, and it's definitely not the chunky books you usually get with mass produced Oracle decks. Rather, it is essentially a hand sized booklet, on magazine style paper, in full colour. It comes with no instructions, and no embellishment on what each card means. What you see on the card is what you get. The book instead says "meet the oracles", and then has an image of the artwork from the deck. Each artist is listed in chronological order, with a small paragraph and a bio. These are written in a comedic and conversational way, which I really like! It certainly took me back to my college days and added a bit of humour to my morning.
Overall, I think this deck is lovely, high quality, and certainly very different from anything else on the market. It is innovative and quirky, and very aesthetically pleasing. However I'm not sure where it fits in! It's not really for divining, but it's too special to be an art students flashcard set. I think I would recommend this as a unique and humorous gift for the younger artist in your life.