The Future Ahead is an early video piece by Ulman which was included in the immersive installation The Destruction of Experience. This piece, similar to other video essays by the artist, uses the format of powerpoint presentations to collage found footage, animated gifs and cheap sound effects. Narrating a fictional story about the protagonist Justin Bieber with an over sexualised and infantilised voice using faux medical data, the video explores polarising online trends prevalent in 2014 when young boys accentuated their forehead lines on social media. Teenage girls, on the other hand teenage girls would get botox to prevent forehead lines even before their appearance. Absurdist from beginning to end, The Future Ahead is a rollercoaster of rumors, office humor and conspiracy theories about gender roles and plastic surgery.Like many of Ulman's video essays, this piece is simultaneously a live piece and was performed internationally among universities and institutions such as Städelschule, Frankfurt, Cooper Union, New York, CAFA Beijing, Matadero Madrid, amongst others.
—Arcadia Missa