Augustina Lavickaite. Research and storytelling through design. Based between Rotterdam (NL) and Vilnius (LT).
Project
Information Smuggling (2023)
Video installation, 7min.
Information Smuggling delves into the media ecosystem of illicit publishing and the dissemination of information as acts of resistance against Russian oppression and cultural erasure in Lithuania. The thesis examines the complex system of elements required for the operation to function, such as an organized network of people, infrastructure, and suitable terrain. The resulting video installation transports viewers to a forested region with contemporary political significance and historical relevance in terms of information smuggling, situated on the borders of Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, and Kaliningrad. By employing diverse modes of witnessing—via the landscape, historical narratives, and the viewer's perspective—the installation positions the terrain as an active participant, facilitating the smuggling of information.
Extended Endings (2021)
Online platform
What role can ritualistic algorithms play in countering information oversaturation? If considered as ancient knowledge-making tools, algorithmic and computational thinking can aid in demystifying and clarifying information at the peak of its oversaturation. The thesis proposes an algorithm built on ritualistic components of redemption, liminality, and accountability, which archives data and creates a digital graveyard of an individual’s relationships with others.
Permanent Theatre (2022)
Publication, 61p.
Permanent Theatre addresses issues of static year-round exhibitions in museums and archives, which result in limited visits and low returns. The project proposes a tool - a booklet - for embracing and observing the performative dimension of the museum or archive. With Permanent Theater, the first visit makes us actors experiencing the scripted narratives of the space. The second visit shifts the roles - the guest becomes a spectator and other guests become the dynamic exhibit. The project was created for and with Depot Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Third Space (2020)
Product 3D renders
As an ever-increasing amount of data becomes available to the general public, many forms of information need to be digitized and archived. Certain types of data can transition easily (ex cheques, legal documents), while others cause technical and conceptual complications. Completed during Covid, the project addresses difficulties of categorizing and comparing personal and intangible data - our experience of the domestic space around us. Abstract input is collected on individual domestic space; it is translated to data equivalents and presented in physical form. The project was completed for and with the Dutch National Archives.