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Bu Tea Den opened May 1, 2025 as a two-month pop-up. We never closed.
The project started a couple years earlier with Paisley ID, an interactive art piece Severin built from repurposed ATM shells. The machines (Automated Fortune Telling Machines, or AFTMs) generate a personalized fortune ticket and a paisley energy portrait based on a short quiz drawn from numerology and chakra theory. For a couple years the machines traveled: Burning Man, Sunset Campout, festivals, street fairs, private events. We'd set them up, run them for a weekend, pack out.
The Den is where the project finally stayed put. A converted warehouse in DTLA. Two AFTMs in the corner. A projection wall (the Aquarium) that fills with everyone's paisleys as the night goes on. Tea brewing, always. About twenty people at a time.
We run it Fridays and weekends, by RSVP. We both have day jobs, which is why we don't open more than that.
About twenty seats. Soft red lanterns. Tea brewing, always.
Answer a few questions. The machine prints your fortune. Your paisley joins the projection wall.
Friday nights have DJs. Weekends rotate through cabaret, mahjong, tea events, trashART.
Severin Sauliere
Co-Founder, Artist & Creative Director
Severin is the creator of Paisley ID, the project the AFTMs come from. He also runs the DJ and cabaret nights at the Den. By day he produces interactive projects at the intersection of art and technology, including the Dream Tapestry at The Dalí Museum.
