Paragon of Virtue uses an emerging technique incorporating crowdsourced text to create an experimental book. Kayla collected fortunes from nearly 100 participants spanning 10 countries using the Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTURK). Results were edited, pared down, and implemented on a standard paper, mimicking the treasures found within fortune cookies.
The name Paragon of Virtue was sourced from the fortunes submitted via MTURK. These crowdsourced submissions ranged from mysterious (“Friday became a cool, wet afternoon”) to comical (“If you want to slap someone, do it. Just be sure to say “mosquito” after”). Even a robot submitted a fortune (“HUMAN RESOURCES”).
This non-traditional book speaks to its name: a perfect, unfaultable person. This person does not exist, nor does a concrete vision of the future. What we can depend on, however, is a willingness to share Narratives of (and for) the Future.
