Upgrade Available is the title of Christensen’s ongoing investigation into how “upgrade culture”––the perceived notion that we need to constantly upgrade our electronics to remain relevant––impacts our experience of time. The series of artworks illuminate how the relentless upgrade impacts our personal lives, institutional archives and operations, and long-term scientific research. The interdisciplinary artwork associated with the project spans drawing, photography, video, as well as a collaboration with scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab to develop a pair of long-term, scientific space missions. Christensen’s book, Upgrade Available, is forthcoming from Dancing Foxes Press.
This project is supported by Creative Capital, LACMA Art + Tech Lab, and the Guggenheim Foundation, with additional support from Fulcrum Arts, the Wexner Film + Video Studio, and the MacDowell Colony. Works from this ongoing project have been exhibited at 21C Museum/Hotel (Louisville, KY), Ronald Feldman Gallery (NY, NY), Eyebeam (NY, NY), Art in General/Vera List Center for the Arts (online exhibition), Center for Ongoing Research and Projects (Columbus, OH), and LACMA (Los Angeles, CA).
