The Prayer Companion alerts the nine Poor Clare nuns cloistered at a monastery in York, England, to issues that need their prayers. The nuns, whose everyday lives have changed little since medieval times, have taken vows of enclosure, and their connections to the outside world are occasional and limited. Designed to be understated and unobtrusive, the Prayer Companion—the nuns call it "Goldie"—sits on a table in a well-traveled hallway, its screen scrolling current issues sourced from RSS news feeds, social networking sites, and blog entries aggregated by the website We Feel Fine (which compiles the emotions of anonymous strangers who have posted the words "I feel" or "I am feeling"). The nuns report that the Prayer Companion "has been valuable in keeping [our] prayers pertinent."

Gallery label from

Born out of Necessity, March 2, 2012–January 28, 2013.

Medium Photopolymer resin, dot-matrix display, and printed circuit board
Dimensions 13 3/4 x 8 11/16 x 5 1/2" (35 x 22 x 14 cm)
Credit Gift of the designers
Object number 773.2011
Department Architecture & Design

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