Testing Luck

This is a prototype for a low tech machine which determines whether a coin is lucky or which of a selection of coins is the luckiest. The coin(s) are dropped in and fall through a set of pins. The coin which is deemed lucky is that which falls into a certain slot at the end of the run.

One of the illustrations for Smiths' magazine

Quantifying luck

I spent over THREE HOURS testing 40 coins to find the ultimate lucky coin champion - I divided the coins into groups of 20 and threw these groups 100 times. Each coin that landed on heads got thrown again and so on until one coin was left. This coin I marked with a red dot and repeated the process another 99 times. The aim of this is to discover whether by testing and quantifying luck, it becomes more believable.

One of these coins had nine dots by the end, another only had two. I gave one coin to Annie and one to Jane. The catch? I placed an extra seven dots on the losing (unluckiest) coin but told the receiving person that it was in fact the luckiest.

Will the real lucky coin bring the good fortune or is it enough to tell someone something is lucky?

Oh, and I'm not saying who has which. I wouldn't want to ruin things now would I?

Who is Lady Luck?

Me, that's who.

I spent the afternoon lasercutting these little things. I am going to place them in various locations: the green clovers will be placed anywhere at all around the city. The circles will be left in places where 'luck' plays a large role (betting, job centres, hospitals etc). The wooden clovers will be placed in the generic areas AND those which require luck.
It is my aim to investigate whether the form of an object has any influence on how people react to/with it in terms of how they are or can become objects of luck. The green clover for example is a universal symbol of luck and hence it should not matter where it is placed, its meaning should in theory remain the same. The plain circle however has no predetermined characteristic of luck affiliated with it, yet by leaving it in a place where good luck is required, or where good luck may arise, this characteristic may become attached to the object in a far more personal and subjective way.

lucky coin harvest

People blow on coins and dice to breathe luck into them. Surely then they become super lucky if you put them in a balloon filled with your breath?

ladybird ladybird fly away home...or don't. It's quite nice you being here.

This little lady(bird) has been in my room for quite some while now.
The question is however, is she lucky because she is a ladybird, extra lucky because she has been here so long, or unlucky because she is dying?

too busy to blog

I realise I havn't blogged in a while but this context report is rather time consuming.