The title of this project was taken from a notion in the sci-fi genre Cyberpunk, in which the focus of a society is on technological advancement more than human life.

With this concept in mind, I began collecting stolen and discarded Electric scooter batteries in and around the tenderloin, where the batteries were being used as tent weights, or to power make shift electronics. I adorned these batteries with drawings of dead fish, a highly commodified carcass and symbol of decadent decay, so the final object succinctly depicts the concept of High Tech / Low Life.

Eventually the scooter company hired a private investigation firm to look into the disappearance of equipment, posting signs asking the public more information. The neighborhood began responding directly on the flyers, with phrases like “Let’s find missing people first!” written on several. I began manipulating these flyers on flatbed scanners to visually document the conversation between community and company.

The batteries were hung from a wire using meat netting like an electronic meat market, intended to highlight commodification of death .