Amulets are an ancient technology, imbued with magical powers and are symbols of aid and protection. These amulets incorporate augmented reality extensions, giving them their own powers of protection. One of the goals of the project is to help people see their agency and their own power through these Augmented reality depictions of their traits.
Tonii began with a specific question: “what does it mean to use sister as a verb?” The teachings of Toni Cade Bambara describes “sister” not just as an identity but as an action. This is a powerful concept. It implies that different relationships regardless of gender and background are premises for “sister”ing.I've experienced racial and gender trauma in my various professional journeys, and realized that what helped me survive were the many acts of "sister"ing I experienced.
To honor the multitude of relationships, Tonii enacts a ritual of co-creation. This can be a one-to-one experience, such as the “Tonii: Empowering each other” series, where amulets are created to be gifted, or a group experience, where we work towards creating an amulet that represents shared values - “Tonii: Embodying Responsibility”.
Traits and elements within the stories then inform the design of amulets and augmentations. The amulets can be worn, or displayed as sculptural objects.
We're excited to share that three amulets from the Empowering Each Other project will be shown in community with Asianish artists at FiveMyles gallery from July 8 - August 13.
The opening of the show is on Sunday July 9th 5.3-8pm. ✨🌈 ✨ Join us for a drink and performance.
We're at SIGGRAPH 2024. If you've come to see the project, thank you! You can use your photostrip amulet at home at this site - bit.ly/tonii-ml
Our paper is also now published on acm - doi.acm.org?doi=3641236.3670866
We're elated to receive funding and support through the inaugural NextWeb seed grant from @metaopenarts and @newinc for this project 🌌✨🌈.
After 2 years of organizing and disorientating together with the @wideawakes I'm so grateful to officially be collaborating with @nourbatyne on Tonii: Embodying Responsibility.
We are holding a series of workshops that explore the values and principles of embodying responsibility and accountability as future ancestors. These values will be encoded within amulets that unlock augmented reality extensions, bridging the digital and physical, extending us to the metaverse.
The amulets will be passed on and we plan to map these networks in a digital time capsule.
