2026 SPE Annual Conference: Catalyst for Exchange
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print this pageThe Auger and The Augment: Image Release as Transsexual Cataclysm
Jamie Pittinos
Friday, March 20 - 9:00AM to 9:30AM
Atlanta 1
The Auger is portrayed through Polaroids injected with Testosterone and Estrogen. The Augment consists of scanned chemigram portraits, which are printed onto printer paper, riddled with intentional perforations, and stapled to a wall.
This project explores how people in transition relate to, play with, and catalyze augmentation, anonymity, and community care in order to drill holes into cisheteronormativity. I call these operations Acting As An Auger.
The Auger is the physical, intentional counterpoint to Legacy Russell's glitch. I photograph the spaces - or gaps, or holes - found at protests, DIY punk venues, drag shows, and in bed with my lover. These gaps I portray with reticence - with opacity - as to preserve anonymity and fantasy – I could decode the translucent and opaque forms, marred with chemical abstractions, but what would that do, other than snitch? Why must exchange only occur if I - or my models - offer their body and identity to the viewer? The Auger reveals and creates the utopic otherness that queer art makes legible. The Glitch is always present - The Auger is a future one must invest in, and sacrifice for.
The Augment is about proliferation, abundance, and the necessity for community care to usher survival - it's simple: alone, we are minuscule - together, we are massive. Together, our delicacy is menacing. Contesting a Xerox machine may seem extreme, but The Augment reclaims the replicability of the image, begging the question: How can we embrace proliferation as a method of survival without trivializing or commodifying someone's image or body?
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