Some of you may have already heard about the Amanda Palmer Tarot Deck, it has been in the works for years now. Now the deck is finally going to see the light of day and I can share what I did for it! Thanks in large to Madeline Carol Matz, who started rallying the 78 or so amazing artists in earnest (no easy task!) and organized a kickstarter to get it properly off the ground, this deck is now happening in a big way! There are still a few weeks to get your own deck, so check it out and help us exceed our goal even more. The more this gets funded, the more the artists get paid!
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| Digital |
The initial instruction way back when this assignment was first given was to base the card off a particular song. I always loved Astronaut, from her Who Killed Amanda Palmer series and when I read the description of what the Seven of Wands stood for, it seemed a perfect match. For me, this song was about the people who are simply destined for greater things. You've met them.They have a little extra spark, they don't seem to have any fear and don't worry about failure. They are the mad geniuses who come along and shake up their corner of the world. The Prometheuses, the Übermensches. These are the people who make a lot of sacrifices and may give up a little of that human connection because they are so focused on doing something a little bit larger than life. They are magical and terrifying and we flock to them like moths to a flame. Astronaut is the the song of the Moth.
I wanted my image to embody to that very human desire to steal fire from the gods. While everyone has some capacity for this, I think this is something especially familiar to artists. The creative struggle is long and hard and full of obstacles. Whether it's the people around us who are standing in our way or own personal demons, it is an unending battle. But it's a battle worth fighting if, even for a moment, we get to touch a little fire.
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| Seven of Wands from the Rider-Waite Tarot deck |
"Astronaut"
music and lyrics by Amanda Palmer
Is it enough to have some love
Small enough to slip inside a book.
Small enough to cover with your hand
Because everyone around you wants to look
Is it enough to have some love
Small enough to fit inside the cracks
The pieces don't fit together so good
With all the breaking and all the gluing back
And I am still not getting what I want
I want to touch the back of your right arm
I wish you could remind me who I was
Because every day I'm a little further off
But you are, my love, the astronaut
Flying in the face of science
I will gladly stay an afterthought
Just bring back some nice reminders
And is it getting harder to pretend
That life goes on without you in the wake?
And can you see the means without the end
In the random frantic action that we take?
And is it getting easy not to care
Despite the many rings around your name
It isn't funny and it isn't fair
You've traveled all this way and it's the same
But you are, my love, the astronaut
Flying in the face of science
I will gladly stay an afterthought
Just bring back some nice reminders
I would tell them anything to see you split the evening
But as you see I do not have an awful lot to tell
Everybody's sick for something that they can find fascinating
Everyone but you and even you aren't feeling well
Yes you are, my love, the astronaut
Crashing in the name of science
Just my luck they found your upper half
It's a very nice reminder
It's a very nice reminder
And you may be acquainted with the night
But I have seen the darkness in the day
And you must know it is a terrifying sight
Because you and I are living the same way
