In this project Daou plays with the notion of the artist as fortune teller. She tells us that, “She is a dealer in the underground economy of desire and expectation” (artist talk: Ulrich Museum of Art). Members of the public are solicited to participate in an exchange in which they present their palms and receive their fortunes transcribed onto paper, for a small fee. The writing is entirely silent and is structured around two questions: where are you coming from, and where are you going. It’s not a performance but an exchange between two people. There is payment for the artist’s labour and expectations on the part of the participant. Daou has enacted this piece in numerous contexts, including institutions, art galleries,
and on the streets. She once set up in Manhattan where it is a crime to tell fortunes, signing and dating her works “AD.” The process of sitting across strangers is an intimate encounter, in which both parties are asked to reflect on future possibilities as non-fixed and multiple. It is an attempt to critically examine economies of desire.