Commissioned for the Gerry's Pompeii Alternative Village Fete, Meanwhile Gardens, London, 2024
Hermione Spriggs in collaboration with Kyle Berlin and Sue Lloyd (Yarm Ferret Rescue)

“We’re going to invite whoever feels so moved – who has a burning existential question – to ask the ferrets, and you’ll see we’re going to spin the ferret roulette wheel, and the ferrets will generate answers to your questions."

FERRET ROULETTE is a mythic device that uses the wisdom of ferrets to divine answers to human questions. It adopts the basic principle of a game played with ferrets at rural agricultural fairs in Yorkshire. In Ferret Roulette, a ferret is placed in a central chamber and emerges at random from one of six exits. Members of the public then place bets on which exit the ferret will choose. Due to their hunting behaviour in the wild, ferrets have an instinctual love of underground holes and dark places. Male ferrets are known as ‘hobs’, and share this name with Yorkshire hobs or hobgoblins – trickster spirits known for their mischievous behaviour who inhabit and animate the land around the North York Moors. In our version of the game, instead of betting for money, the ferret performs as a guide, helping to generate poetic responses to a series of questions posed by local residents.

Below is video documentation of the event, filmed and produced by Gerry's Pompeii Alternative Village Fete.