Graduation project
Update the Upgrade
Ilja Schamlé
## “During the global COVID-19 pandemic, the possible future of me growing tomatoes from whatever energy I could find, during catastrophic events, actually became a reality.”
What does the future hold? Can you buy it? If you search for products of the future online, you’ll find inflatable air lounges and personal neck fans. In response to this hollow commodification of destiny, Ilja Schamlé created an online marketplace where shoppers can find a live listing of ‘future-washed’ products. The server that powers the website runs off plant and solar energy, while releasing heat that sustains the plants. This artificial ecosystem is based on opposing but co-dependent systems. Can our online behaviour follow the pace of growth of plants? Will consumerism and survival be able to support each other? ‘Update the Upgrade’ is no solution, but a plea for new attitudes towards the future.