David G Taylor – Tarot Series

My tarot card designs are quite separate from the fourth wall interactive installation. It’s a standalone piece based on the folklore of tarot, but it also includes other elements such as correlations to earth, air and fire signs, astrological signs, and runes—so there are multiple ways you can use the cards. I’ve even included a yes/no/maybe function, so you can shuffle them and ask questions.

It’ll tell you yes, no, or maybe. The conceit of the tarot pack is that it’s the world’s first truthful tarot, so each card has a rather glib and darkly humorous legend on it. One of them, for instance, is “Read the Room: No one cares.” So yes, there’s definitely humour in it.

One of the designs is the Devil, which features one of my artworks inspired by the film A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick. It shows the protagonist as the Devil.

Another features a friend of mine who’s a drag king—that’s the Temperance card—and it says “Sober is the new rock and roll.” That design actually featured on T-shirts for a sober record label called Not Saints, based in Brighton. Not Saints has multiple sober artists on the label, representing a diverse range of musical styles, so it’s worth checking out.

Another design is The Hanged Man, which is a riff on the traditional tarot card, made more cheekily humorous. The Moon card features a portrait I did of David Bowie, taken from his Life on Mars? video, with the oversaturated eye makeup.

The final card in the pack is Death. This is a portrait I did of the late model Rick Genest, known as Zombie Boy, who had his face tattooed to look like a skull. His shaved head was tattooed with a brain—it was an incredible look. He appeared in lots of pop videos and fashion editorials, particularly in the early noughties. Sadly, he’s passed away.

So that’s the tarot card series. I hope you enjoy them—there are multiple ways they can be used—and I hope to release a full tarot pack later down the line.