Chris Combs
Supercycle
July 8–July 30, 2023

A cryptocurrency hedge fund named Three Arrows relentlessly promoted a “crypto supercycle”: a years-long bear market that would eventually pay out individual crypto investors if they just held out a little longer.

This hype rallied their followers in times of downturn—until it didn’t, and Three Arrows Capital “vaporized a trillion dollars” (New York magazine) and singlehandedly created a “crypto winter.” Its founders are now in hiding.

To me, the “supercycle” stands for manipulative futurism: performative optimism, with the goal of self- enrichment.

In these works, I seek some of the futures available to us. The perfect speedrun; the wreckage of the present.

Does proactivity impede “progress”? Can we ignore the downsides of new technologies, like “AI”? Will tech companies just shake out biases in the next version?

I have my hunches, as you may have surmised. I, too, wish to see the future—but with clear eyes, or at least the rheumy haze of hard-learned experience.

About the artist:

Chris Combs is an artist based in Washington, DC, who creates provocative technology. His show Industry Standards (McLean Project for the Arts, 2023) featured works with reclaimed industrial components, reflecting on disruptive technologies, surveillance, and environmental destruction. Lossiness (VisArts, 2021) included seven artworks exploring human perception. The Algorithm Will See You Now (Transformer, 2022) addressed algorithmic bias and failings of “AI” products. Judging Me Judging You (DCAC, 2018) dealt with surveillance and control, and the thirty-five machines in Maelstrom (Rhizome DC, 2021) spread rumors about their visitors. Madness Method, a public art collaboration with David Greenfieldboyce, was part of 2021’s Georgetown GLOW.

Chris is a recipient of the DC CAH AHFP program. He is a graduate of the Corcoran College of Art + Design and was a photo editor for National Geographic. He joined the Otis Street Arts Project in May 2021.