Final Upgrade

Final upgrade is an audio piece situated inside a Macquarium sculpture. The term “Macquarium was coined by technology journalist Andy Inahtko, in the early 1990s as a humorous response to a reader on how to upgrade the (then outdated) Macintosh 512K. He called the Macquarium “the final upgrade”. Taking this idea literally, the aquarium presents the computer as a fishbowl - a world of solitary confinement. The audio narrative moves seamlessly between fish, user and AI assistant - confusing the listener as to who is speaking from inside the machine.