Cost Basis: Pavlina Vagioni

‘The commodity is…materialized illusion” – Guy Debord, Society of the Spectacle

We live in the shadow of AI’s ascendancy, with the rapid-fire pace of search engine

algorithms increasing exponentially by the day.

In ‘Cost Basis: Pavlina Vagioni,’ curated by Audra Verona Lambert, visitors encounter an installation that poses a critical

question: in a period of technological domination, how can values be calculated in a manner comprehensible to the human mind?

Visitors to the exhibit become participants in navigating the space as they encounter a shadowy matrix of environmental stimuli lurking behind an entry portal. Continuing forward, one navigates a semi-permeable, wraith-like maze where scattered light and cryptic sound and movement collide. The space appears nebulous, but unfolds according to a fixed pathway that demands action but restricts choice. An object encountered at the installation’s center calls into question our system of values, examining how we can continue to grapple with ethical and moral choices in an era of constantly shifting information.

‘Cost Basis’ at its core critiques the volatility of contemporary wealth, approximating the cacophony of contemporary technological advancements and the resulting, seemingly arbitrary, ability to diminish or augment value. The installation’s multisensory environment evokes the ways in which market forces rapidly shift the value of commodities and capital. Through the concept of cost basis—typically applied to financial instruments but also relevant to life insurance policies, which can be borrowed against by policy holders— the exhibit underscores the unsettling reality that technologies are progressively being utilized to assess the value of human lives without input from actual people. The aleatory methodology of these financial systems recalls the ancient Greek satirical comedy Plutus by Aristophanes, in which volatile wealth redistribution incites the ire of both gods and the elite. Today, the Olympian gods of Aristophanes’ play are replaced by corporate boards and politicians who preserve cycles of inequality under the guise of merit and innovation: access to insider knowledge becomes the modern divine right. How much do our individual values evenmatter in the face of today’s hyper-accelerated information cycle? How can ethical considerations exist in a world where decisions are being made at speeds beyond the threshold of human competency?

_______

Audra Verona Lambert is the Curator of University of Southern Indiana’s New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art in New Harmony, IN. Raised in South Louisiana and arriving to New Harmony via New York, NY, she has curated exhibits at the American Scandinavian Society, Fountain House Gallery, Yeshiva University Museum, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts and more. She served as Director, Amos Eno Gallery from 2020-22, and has worked on projects for Art in Odd Places (NY,) More Art (NY,) Pro Arts Jersey City (NJ) and the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art (SC.) She co-founded the community-driven initiative, alt_break art fair, dedicated to elevating mission-driven organizations (2016-20.) Lambert holds an MA, Art History & Visual Culture (Lindenwood University, MO) and a BA, Art History (Saint Peter’s University, NJ) in tandem with completing the Asian Studies Program Kansai Gaidai University, Saijo City, Japan.

______________________________

Pavlina Vagioni is a Greek-born interdisciplinary artist based in Houston, TX, whose work spans sculpture, painting, sound, and digital art. She has exhibited at notable venues across the US and Europe, including the Byzantine Museum, Hellenic American Union, Kappatos Gallery (Athens), TANK Space, Lawndale Art Center (Houston,) Carillon Gallery (Fort Worth) and Opening Gallery (New York.) Vagioni completed a residency at the School of Visual Arts and created a public art project at Houston’s ION Building. Her work is recognized internationally and held in multiple private and public collections including the MOMus–Museum of Contemporary Art (Thessaloniki, Greece.)