Reader / Advisor
Urethane resin, video monitors, DVD players
15 x 4 x 10 in
38.1 x 10.2 x 25.4 cm
2001
Richard Humann • Reader/Advisor • Urethane resin, video monitors, DVD players • 15” x 4” x 10” • 2001
In Reader/Advisor, Richard Humann explores the human desire for certainty, reassurance, and meaning through the rituals of palm reading and fortune-telling. The installation consists of hands cast in clear urethane resin and displayed palm-up on the wall, each containing a small video monitor. The screens present predictions and affirmations offered by palm readers, or “reader/advisors,” whom Humann consulted during his research for the work.
More than fifty sayings appear throughout the installation, including “you will live a long and healthy life,” “you will achieve fame and fortune,” “adventure awaits you,” and “your life does have meaning.” These statements offer promises of happiness, success, and purpose, addressing desires and uncertainties common to human experience. Their familiarity and reassuring tone raise questions about why people seek guidance from those who claim to reveal what the future holds.
The cast hands transform the act of palm reading into a sculptural encounter. Traditionally, the palm is presented as a surface on which a reader interprets the lines of an individual’s life. Here, the open hands become vessels for the predictions themselves, while the embedded monitors give these promises a continuous, almost authoritative presence. The transparency of the resin exposes the physical form while separating the viewer from the intimate act of having one’s future interpreted.
By presenting actual statements collected from reader/advisors, Humann grounds the installation in existing practices rather than invented prophecies. The work occupies an ambiguous space between skepticism and belief, inviting viewers to consider the appeal of assurances that cannot be verified. Reader/Advisor ultimately examines the desire to believe that our lives follow a meaningful trajectory—and the comfort we may find in hearing that the future will bring what we hope for.
Richard Humann • Reader/Advisor • Urethane resin, video monitors, DVD players • 15” x 4” x 10” • 2001
Photo credits: Daniel Meyer / Richard Humann Studio