The latest issue of Side Magazine gives shape to the figure of the Fortune Teller, who is the fourth of seven characters being staged at Bergen Assembly 2022, a Norwegian contemporary art triennial convened by artist Saâdane Afif and curated by Yasmine d’O. Seven contributors reflect on the practice of foreseeing: Alain Schnapp’s knowledge of ruins is called upon to offer an unmissable forecast; the oracle Franco “Bifo” Berardi’s “Ode to Capitalism” is transcribed in full, first delivered in Delphi to the Dirty Art Department’s students in 2018.
Aage Borchgrevink recounts how the engineer Farouk al-Kasim helped to establish the Norwegian oil industry, pages from Verena Dengler’s diaries speak to her voices of many ages, which cast spells to shape her future as an artist.
Sébastien Wit reveals the nuances that inhabit chance by recalling two famous artistic disputes; siddhartha lokanandi and Theresa Clasen discuss the question of whether the bookseller can be a fortune teller; and the issue concludes with the sounds of the Saami drums, as Fredrik Prost tells us stories about this divinatory instrument.