99¢ Futures, 2013
On February 9th, 2013 a pharmacy & 99¢ store on Flatbush Avenue in downtown Brooklyn held a "Time-Warp Opening" selling a variety of products one might desire in the future; from space suit lining-replacements, to DIY organ-transplant kits, to life form creation tools.
These speculative products were the outcome of the first Extrapolation Factory held at Studio-X NYC. Eager factory workers spent the day selecting forecasts from our futures-database, categorizing them into "lenses" on a wall-sized diagram, and then "looked" through these lenses to establish unique visions of the future. The forward-looking views were expressed as stories of possible future scenarios, each giving birth to a product concept that might be found in a 99¢ store of the future. Workers then fabricated and packaged these future products at the factory's rapid-prototyping station. Every item included its inspiration story, as well as the initial forecasts and sources that support it.
On the following Friday, an existing 99¢ store was stocked with the future products, alongside an inventory of items from the present (mobile phone accessories) as well as dated objects (rain bonnets) and timeless ones (toothpicks).
The products conceived in the workshop (roughly 30 unique products, in multiples numbering over 100 objects total) were shelved in a Brooklyn 99¢ store on the following Friday, amidst the standard items already available in the store.
Products like Benzene Vapor Refills, Mars Survival Kits, and Triple-Nipple Baby Bottles sold like hot cakes at the one-night-only event. Throughout the evening, store regulars and invited guests strolled the aisles, inspecting items, starting up conversations with strangers, and purchasing the futures that spoke to them for $1.08 with tax - no returns accepted.
These speculative products were the outcome of the first Extrapolation Factory held at Studio-X NYC. Eager factory workers spent the day selecting forecasts from our futures-database, categorizing them into "lenses" on a wall-sized diagram, and then "looked" through these lenses to establish unique visions of the future. The forward-looking views were expressed as stories of possible future scenarios, each giving birth to a product concept that might be found in a 99¢ store of the future. Workers then fabricated and packaged these future products at the factory's rapid-prototyping station. Every item included its inspiration story, as well as the initial forecasts and sources that support it.
On the following Friday, an existing 99¢ store was stocked with the future products, alongside an inventory of items from the present (mobile phone accessories) as well as dated objects (rain bonnets) and timeless ones (toothpicks).
The products conceived in the workshop (roughly 30 unique products, in multiples numbering over 100 objects total) were shelved in a Brooklyn 99¢ store on the following Friday, amidst the standard items already available in the store.
Products like Benzene Vapor Refills, Mars Survival Kits, and Triple-Nipple Baby Bottles sold like hot cakes at the one-night-only event. Throughout the evening, store regulars and invited guests strolled the aisles, inspecting items, starting up conversations with strangers, and purchasing the futures that spoke to them for $1.08 with tax - no returns accepted.
More images on Flickr, and from the Designs of the Year 2014 exhibition here.
Exhibitions & related material
Exhibitions & public programs
- 99¢ FuturesStudio-X NYC workshop and time-warp opening at a Flatbush Avenue pharmacy and 99¢ store, Brooklyn.
- Design Shanghai 2013Power Station of Art, Shanghai. Thirty speculative products from the Brooklyn 99¢ store installation.
Articles, publications & talks
- Diseño de futuros: 5 proyectos — Revista CódigoRevista Código, 2015. Spanish-language feature including 99¢ Futures.
- Extrapolation Factory will sell you the future
- Animal DNA and Mars kits: Christmas gifts of the future?
- Extrapolation Factory Imagines the Future of the Dollar Store
- 99¢ Futures
- The Extrapolation Factory — Core77 Design Awards 2013Core77 Design Awards 2013. Award record describing the 99¢ Futures workshop and pop-up.