Hello! My name is Cen and I'm a craftsperson, game-designer, writer, and sometimes witch!

Artifacts for Those Who Remain is a collaborative mindfulness project where I provide a mysterious item, the[Artifact], and you - its new keeper - give it purpose, using its shape, materials, symbols, your own experience, and a little guidance.

There are several layers of inspiration behind the idea for this project but the short version is: all the little trinkets, odds, ends, buttons, coins, game pieces, tokens, and markers that humans create in their lives which lose their purpose when they are lost, or left behind by their creators. These items are later discovered without context by others who give new meaning and life to them as object of mystery.

These objects of mystery exist but are often problematic/difficult to obtain, find, or keep due (rightly) to heritage and historical preservation laws. As a creator and a story teller who is in the business of making mysterious items I am stepping in to serve the role of the unknowable those-who came-before, and you as contributor become the finder of these objects as one-who-remains.

The [Artifact] itself is a relatively simple item, a rectangular prism with four active faces and two neutral faces. The active faces hold glyphs I've designed, drawn from personal and historical knowledge of esoteric symbols. The simplest artifact has the same symbol on all four faces but at different positions (ascending, rest, descending) and orientations (epitome and inversion). There are options for increasing complexity with two symbols represented across the faces or each face having its own symbol. Artifacts range from 1.5" - 2" long and 0.5" - 0.75" around.

The Game/Mindfulness/Ritual aspect comes from how you use and/or read the object. On its own the [Artifact] is pleasant to the touch; wood has a grounding effect for many people when touched, smelled, or gazed upon. If that is all you need, that can be it! An object of beauty you can carry with you and experience as you need or to keep somewhere special. With its symbols it can be read. After casting it like a dice or flipping it through the air like a coin, its symbols, their placement, and its orientation can then be interpreted in ways meaningful to you. If that all sounds rather vague, its because this is a collaboration. I will help and give examples and suggestions, but what your artifact grows to become is up to you.

FAQ and Further Info

WHAT YOU GET!

An [Artifact] made out of one of the random high quality hardwoods I have in my shop. This item is hand sanded to a ultra-smooth surface, then treated with traditional tung oil and polished with a bees wax wood polish.

An Origin Document, which is a semi-randomized survey driven document which details how you came upon your [Artifact]. Just buying it from a crowdfundr wouldn't be as good a story as, say, finding it tangled amongst the roots of an old tree during a hike in the mountains.

A Guidance Booklet, digitally printed zine-style detailing how to care for your [Artifact] and how to develop your own meaningful ritual interactions or uses with it.

WHEN YOU WILL GET IT!

The Soft Target is BY Autumn of 2023. Depending on the complexity and number of orders that may stretch later, but one of the ideas behind the project was to make something I could deliver relatively quickly with few complications.

ABOUT THE GLYPHS

The glyphs are my own simplified designs of symbols and objects which often show up in various forms of divination and magic and can have many meanings that are open to interpretation. I have specifically tried to avoid using alchemical, religious, and safety symbols to encourage creativity in the development of your interactions and to avoid future keepers of the [Artifact] from making false assumptions about the object. The current/core glyphs are as follows: Mirror, Candle, Cauldron, Cracked Cauldron, Chalice, Crown, Dagger, Key, Sword, Wheel, Poured Chalice, Ring.

ABOUT THE WOODS

I use a variety of hardwoods in my workshop and there are mixes of figured, curly, burled etc among most of them so every piece will be completely unique and, to that end, may differ from the pictured sample pieces.

The non-comprehensive list of hardwoods is as follows.

Most Common: Walnut, Maple, Madrone, Myrtle, Tanoak, White Oak, Cherry

Less Common: Pear, Osage/Hedge, Elm, Redgum

Why Crowdfundr

I'm crowdfunding this project as the best way to handle such a personalized project and to raise funds for some new tools for my woodworking studio. Stretch goals represent milestones where I can get a tool I've been needing and as a thank you unlocks various accessories and further options for personalization "Add-Ons" or upgrades for everyone.

Stretch Goals

REACHED! - $1,000 - Upgrade! Random Mini Print in Each Order (One Per Contributor)

REACHED! - $2,000 - Upgrade! Guide Booklet Professionally Printed (One Per [Artifact])

LOCKED - $4,000 - Add-On! "Brass Inlay" Selectable when configuring your [Artifact]

LOCKED - $7,000 - Add-On! "Premium Wood" Selectable when configuring your [Artifact]

LOCKED - $10,000 - Upgrade! Unlock a new glyph chosen from a list via a contributor poll!

LOCKED - $15,000 - Upgrade+Add-On! Black Linen drawstring bag included in Each Order (One Per Contributor). Additional Bags available as an Add-On.

[GOAL REACHED!] Random Mini Print:

A small 2"x2" linocut print of a random glyph on quality printmaking paper.

[GOAL REACHED!] Professionally Printed Guide Booklet:

The default Guide Booklet is just printed on printer paper. This stretch goal upgrade I'll design up a nice little softcover booklet and have it printed professionally.

Brass Inlay:

For an additional fee you will be able to select a brass inlay for one or all four glyphs on your [Artifact]. This inlay is made using a cold process common in woodworking and wood turning using metal or stone powder (in this case brass powder) and super thin CA glue to create a metallic inlay that can take a polish and even be burnished.

Premium Wood:

A new option will be made available to configure your [Artifact] where you can select it be made out of a premium wood for an additional fee. Premium woods are super dense woods often used in jewelry and fine pen making. The comprehensive list of premium woods is tbd but the ones I know for sure I would include for this offering would be Desert Ironwood, Granadillo, Lignum Vitae. Other woods I need to look into current pricing and allergen information.

Premium wood engraving tests for possible Premium woods.

This tier will not include rosewoods, most mahoganies, and some ebony types as I have recently found myself to be reactive to their allergen and sensitizing agents.

A New Glyph:

I have several ideas for additional glyphs but wanted to keep the core set manageable. That being said this reward is for a 13th glyph to be added to the core set for this campaign. The new glyph will be chosen from a list provided by myself and voted on by contributors! The new glyph will enter the random rotation for everybody and be available as a selectable glyph for contributors who pay to chose their glyphs.

Black Linen Drawstring Bag:

I will buy a big bolt of some nice black linen and sew little drawstring bags (with my sewing machine). One per contributor will be included in your order, but additional bags will be made available for purchase.

ABOUT ME

As an artist my goal is to create items with a sense of weight and meaning to ground people in their everyday lives and feel more connected to themselves, the natural world, and items that are important to them. To that end I have made dice chests, tarot boxes, recipe boxes, ornate trays and containers, jewelry, and other mindfulness activities. These objects have all been given meaning and purpose and definition by me which is then transferred to the items owners.

With this project I am interested in a more collaborative and personalized experience. I will provide the craft, care, and intention, and you bring the meaning and use. I will provide guidance and tools, but the ritual you will develop is your own.

The Inspiration Deeper Dive

Have you ever picked up something from the ground just because you found it interesting? A stone with a curious blue hue. A stick with knots that look like dots. A lump of metal, heavy and worn. Perhaps you found some forged nails at a quarry. An old coin or button. Have you ever assigned value to these things? When you hold the smooth stone in your pocket and run your fingers over its surface it feels cool and you feel calm when you were stressed or anxious. The old coin you found gives you luck and you keep it in a little box of important treasures. The button reminds you of a grandparent and it brings back memories of them.

These objects which once lost or lacked a purpose suddenly have one given to them by you. Without realizing it you've built a small ritual around it, a spell that takes you anxious to calm, that conjurers a memory, that gives you confidence. There is no magic or supernatural beings involved just our human brain that likes games, patterns, and meaning.