artifacts from the late american empire

A Museum Exhibition from the Future

(A Work In Progress)

concept

It is 2800 CE, and the Louvre is exhibiting a collection of artifacts from the 21st and 22nd CE Late American Empire. How will the future look back on the 22nd CE United States?

Part tactile, part virtual, this project is a work in progress, and the progress itself is part of the layers of art draping each over the other, creating an ever-changing view of the future from our past.

Shown here are ancient artifacts from the future, along with accompanying museum cards. Keep returning to this page to see how the exhibition grows in layers over time.

THE STORY

In the late 21st century, a series of convergent natural disasters caused an economic and social collapse of the world order. Inflated by rampant cryptocurrency speculation and inseparably intertwined through reinsurance contracts, the world financial system collapsed. After the world financial collapse, society and governments fell. The Monolith Period of Civilization ended and the Splintering began. This period later came to be known as the Dark Ages of the Crypto Crash. Pockets of knowledge and technical advancement remained, but they stood as islands in a larger sea of chaos. What happens to a technologically advanced society when it collapses?

EXHIBITION CATALOG

ARTIFACTS FROM THE LATE AMERICAN EMPIRE

LATE 21ST CENTURY COMMON ERA

THROUGH 22ND CENTURY COMMON ERA

Exhibition of “Artifacts from the Late American Empire” at West Valley College, Saratoga, California 2022