Metadata doesn't explicitly say who we are, but it can reveal a surprising amount about us. Which apps we use, when we sleep, where we are, who we communicate with. The three of us conceived a machine that makes this invisible data shadow experienceable in its own unique, somewhat unsettling way. You place your smartphone into a slot and grasp two handles with your hands. The machine begins to flicker, vibrate and emit sounds, while the Omphalos stone beneath the dome establishes the connection to the metadata spirits. At the end, a receipt is printed — on it is a prophecy, produced by the spirits of your own metadata.
Pythia deliberately moves in the borderland between magic and technology, between fairground fortune machine and surveillance tech, between seriousness and a wink. The boundary between real information and illusion remains intentionally blurred — because that is precisely where the questions arise that Pythia wants to raise. Michael took on mechanical engineering and machine construction, Anaïs handled look and feel and the construction of the ceramic components, I contributed sound effects and the product video.