Nicole Agusti
Biography
Nicole Agusti is a video installation and multimedia artist currently
working in Medford, MA. She holds a B.A. in Film Production and Psychology
from Emerson College, a Graduate Certificate in Women in Politics
and Public Policy as well as a Masters in Public Policy from the
University of Massachusetts Boston. She is currently pursuing
a Doctorate in Public Policy from The University of Massachusetts
Boston.
Statement
My work examines conceptions of space, place, and the social world
within traditional fields of urban development, economics and public
policy in order to identify and expose symbolic and structural violence.
Much of the discourse within these fields clings to ideologies that
serve only to lament a fantastical notion of the past and ignore
the impact of technology and globalization on the aforementioned
realms. These fields employ 'change' that resists change and in turn
oppresses. Contrasting the current ideological basis for much governmental
action today, I seek to reframe these conceptions through the exploration
of the psychogeographical implications of urban development and representation,
the notion of the privatization and de-privatization of social capital,
and the implications of social behavior and behavioral economic theories
like subjective well-being.
Currently I am working on
a project that examines the ways in which the 'privatization of the social
world', and social capital, has in fact expanded previous notions of social
connectedness as well as changed its nature. Individual perception, experience,
and emotion have become the fabric of a public identity constructed in the
expanse of a multimedia social space. Those privy to these aspects
of individual and collective experience include more than simply the mother,
the lover, and the therapist. It includes the whole of this social space,
of cyber space. It has become abstracted from the context in which
it was created. With this, however, has come the extension of the commodification
of emotional release. Paying for therapy or paying for the space to express
these aspects of ones experience in a public manner. In this vein I
seek to reconnect physical public space with these new conceptions of social
space through public projections of collected material from blogs and the
collection of 'life lessons'. Further, the creation of purchasable "life
lessons walls" in the form of digital frames that present the owners
with a collection of individual thoughts and statements about their lives
are available for a fee. Complimentary to this piece I will employ
traditional empirical social scientific methodologies to perform a comparative
analysis of current examinations of social capital and social capital building
within urban environments and one that incorporates a larger conception of
social connectedness.
In the future I will
to continue to incorporate multimedia artwork, theoretical analysis
and traditional social scientific methodology to explore the impact
of structured society both its physical and social manifestations impact
individual and group perception and experience. Through these
forms of inquiry I hope to promote community dialogue and action as
well as inform policy discourse.
View Portfolio:
http://www.nicoleagusti.com
Contact:
info@nicoleagusti.com
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