SURPLUS RISING

Digital photographs, custom maps

SURPLUS RISING (2009-2012) maps the narrative of factory machines: where they were made, where they operated in the United States before their respective factories shut down, and what countries they are headed to in their next lives. Christensen photographed these machines as they sat in-waiting in Cleveland, Ohio, before they are shipped abroad to countries like Mexico, China, Brazil, and India, to be refurbished for placement in new factories. How is the “stuff” of industry a global issue? Simultaneously, how is it a specifically American issue? What does the mass abandonment of material mean in terms of politics, our environment, our architecture, and our infrastructure? Our buildings, roads, and our “stuff” are all reflections of us, who we are as a global community. So what does it mean when so much of our “stuff” becomes “surplus?” Surplus Rising consists of photography, writing, and maps. The work premiered in a solo exhibition at the Banvard Gallery at the Ohio State University School of Architecture. The solo show has also been exhibited at the Powerhouse at Battery Park in Cleveland, Ohio.