01 AFTMs
It starts at an AFTM: an Automated Fortune-Telling Machine, built from a repurposed ATM.
It asks you a few questions about yourself. Answer on instinct. Your answers become a paisley, a portrait of your energy.
Pictures & videos
The road so far
From a paper quiz in 2014 to a permanent home in LA.
Paisley ID 2024 highlights
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2014 The idea
It started on paper. A printed quiz, and a paisley made by hand in Photoshop for every person who took it.
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2016 The code
In November 2016 the quiz went into code. Getting to a working prototype took years.
When the website went live, it didn’t feel like enough. Then came the move to LA, and a better idea: put it in an arcade cabinet.
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2023 Sunset Campout
First time out in the world, with a prototype. Festival goers loved it.
We left with a list of fixes. Top of the list: get a touch screen.
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2024 High Tide
The first desert test. Lesson learned: simplify the setup and the layout.
People kept telling us the same thing: bring it to Burning Man.
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2024 Sunset Campout
A great team with us this time. The installation was still too complicated, but already much more streamlined.
- Dates
- Jun 20 to 23
- Run
- 4 days, from sunset
- Runtime
- 25h
- Paisleys
- 194
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2024 Burning Man
Our first art project at Burning Man. The arcade cabinet wouldn’t have survived the playa, so we built something tougher: 2 recycled ATMs, turned into AFTMs in a few weeks.
We camped with Dustfish, right by the three big planets. The AFTMs stood on the Esplanade every night, 4 nights in a row, and we projected the aquarium onto the inflatable Moon next door. An amazing experience.
- Dates
- Aug 27 to 30
- Run
- 4 nights, from sunset
- Runtime
- 39h
- Paisleys
- 529
“I literally stood at your art for a long while stopping people and explaining what it was because I was so enamored and impressed by the project!”
Lex B., Dustfish -
2024 SF Decompression
The AFTMs came up from LA for it. The highest, most intense traffic yet: 415 paisleys in 12 hours.
- Date
- Oct 13
- Run
- 1 day, noon to midnight
- Runtime
- 12h
- Paisleys
- 415
“I stopped and watched for a bit. Everyone left the fortune machines with a big smile. Kudos to the install team!”
LossHuman3289 on Reddit -
2025 Sunset Campout
Third Sunset Campout, and the first with an AFTM. We brought one machine and premiered the aquarium on a TV instead of a projection, for a more intimate setting.
It was also the last Sunset Campout. For now, we hope.
- Dates
- Jun 19 to 22
- AFTMs
- 1
- Aquarium
- On a TV
- Paisleys
- 291
First photo: Robin Russell for Sunset Sound System
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2025 · Now Bu Tea Den
After a couple years of festivals, street fairs, and events, the AFTMs moved in for good at Bu Tea Den, the alcohol-free tea speakeasy in Historic South Central LA.
Every guest leaves with a fortune ticket. Every paisley joins the Aquarium, a projection wall across the room, the moment it’s made.
More AFTMs followed: one at Cre8 Art Gallery in the Fashion District, one at Attitude Cafe in Mid City. 2 more are in fabrication.
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