Studio-X NYC was transformed into a sweatshop for the 99¢ store of the future on Saturday, with eager Extrapolation Factory workers creating products ranging from a triple-nipple baby bottle to a car-breathalyzer hacking tool, and from a 3D synthetic biology printer refill cartridge to a replacement spacesuit liner.

Designers Chris Woebken and Elliott P. Montgomery set up the production line, leading workers through an extrapolation process that began with selecting a forecast or forecasts from a wall-mounted database. These had been culled from a wide variety of sources, and included broad predictions of demographic change, urbanization, and ecological disaster, as well as more tightly focused technology forecasts — ubiquitous computing, synthetic biology, neural prosthetics, and the like.

A giant wall-graphic gave the Extrapolation Factory workers a chance to reflect on and discuss the implications of their forecast(s) through a variety of different lenses: technological, cultural, ecological, economic, and geopolitical. Next, workers wrote a Post-It note-sized story snippet — an episode in the life of their filtered forecast. The final stage was productization: using a combination of existing 99¢ products, modelling clay, Mylar, and neon tape to create a 99¢ artifact that would exist in the world of their Post-It note story. 

Best of all, on Friday, for one night only, the 99¢ futures we created will be on sale in a 99¢ store of today, camouflaged among its already mind-bending selection of fake lashes, hair curlers, Jungle Juice, and “Butt Naked”-brand incense. Join Chris and Elliott to spot and shop for the 99¢ future on Friday, February 15, at Siri Pharmacy & 99¢ Store, 23 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn, from 5-7pm.