Erica Scourti at Transmediale festival in Berlin, 2015
Erica Scourti (born in Athens) is an artist based in the UK whose works (which combine performance, digital media, the web, and video[1]) have been exhibited at the Brighton Photo Biennial, the Hayward Gallery Project Space, and the Photographers' Gallery in London[2] Her performance project, Life In Adwords (2012), involved her keeping a diary by email to her Google account and creating videos based on the advertising targeted to her as a result.[3]
Biography
Erica Scourti (born 1980) is a British-Greek artist, is a well-known modern artist whose work appears in performance, video, literature, and digital media. She frequently looks at issues of identity, technology, and the modern individual. In the context of internet culture, Scourti's work often blurs the lines between the public and private domains through elements of self-exposure and self-reflection.[4] Her critical engagement with digital platforms and the ways in which they influence our perspectives of others and ourselves characterizes her artistic production. Scourti's artwork has been shown in galleries, museums, and festivals around the world.[5]
Erica Scourti often creates interdisciplinary work combining digital media, literature, film, and performance. Erica Scourti's work explores topics of identity, technology, and the self in the digital era. She draws on her strong foundation in artistic practice and critical inquiry, which she acquired via her school.[7]
"Life in AdWords" (2013)
"Life in AdWords" is among Erica Scourti's most significant pieces. In this project, Scourti uses her personal information from Google'sAdWords advertising platform to investigate topics of identity, privacy, and surveillance in the digital era. Scourti's study entails recording her impressions on AdWords, Google's advertising platform that shows customized ads according to users' online activity and interests.[8] Scourti gathers and examines the advertisements that show up when she performs different web searches for terms and phrases as part of her investigation into AdWords. By recording the advertisements that AdWords produced in response to her online behavior, Scourti draws attention to the gathering, handling, and application of personal data for the purpose of targeted advertising. She brings up concerns regarding digital privacy, the monetization of personal data, and the algorithms and systems that influence our online experiences.[9]
"Spill Sections" (2016)
"Spill Sections" is a 2016 multimedia installation designed by Erica Scourti. Scourti examines identity fluidity, the intricacies of internet communication, and self-representation in this body of work. In the course of the project, Scourti interacts with numerous online platforms, including social media, chat rooms, and live streaming, through a number of performances, installations, and digital works. She moves across these virtual environments, chatting with people and investigating various facets of her identity in real time.[10] "Spill Sections" explores how people create and display themselves in digital spaces as well as the fractured character of online communication. Scourti's examination of these subjects highlights issues with intimacy, authenticity, and identity performance in the era of social media and digital technology.[11]
"Empathy Deck" (2016)
In 2016, the "empathizing deck" was created. It consists of a deck of cards meant to encourage introspection and dialogue around feelings and mental health. Every card in the "Empathy Deck" has an emoji that symbolizes a certain feeling and a mental health-related sentence or prompt that goes along with it. People can use the deck as a tool to talk about empathy and emotional support, as well as to explore and express their feelings.[12] The "Empathy Deck" by Scourti welcomes users to interact in a positive and approachable manner with both their own and other people's emotions. In order to promote empathy, understanding, and a sense of community among participants, the initiative offers a written and visual framework for talking about feelings. Scourti's interest in the nexus of communication, emotion, and technology is evident in the project. Emotions are a common form of digital communication. Scourti examines how technology affects our perceptions of emotion and interpersonal connection by combining emoticons with mental health-related questions.[13]
