Vyjayanthi Vadrevu

Hidden in Plain Sight (HIPS) was borne of a desire to foster dialogue between anthropologists and the non-academic world. Social and behavioral science has been used to solve problems for decades in ways that are often hidden, or "white-labeled", and people outside these fields increasingly encounter issues that anthropological perspectives are best positioned to help them understand. As domains like medicine, technology, and marketing face dramatic cultural changes, these counter-corporate… Show more

Hidden in Plain Sight (HIPS) was borne of a desire to foster dialogue between anthropologists and the non-academic world. Social and behavioral science has been used to solve problems for decades in ways that are often hidden, or "white-labeled", and people outside these fields increasingly encounter issues that anthropological perspectives are best positioned to help them understand. As domains like medicine, technology, and marketing face dramatic cultural changes, these counter-corporate points-of-view are coming into the fore in ways that are more influential than ever. HIPS explores the current and future applications of the behavioral and social sciences to solve real-world problems through monthly meetups and online publications. HIPS also serves as a resource for organizations to find researchers and strategists for projects and for social and behavioral scientists to collaborate, fine tune their work, and help drive the changes that industry, academia, and society at large need. Show less

I was invited to serve as a committee member for the Pecha Kucha Segment of the EPIC 2018 Conference.

As a committee member, I collaborated with 3 other committee members to review submissions for this unique arts meets academia style talk. After reviewing and selecting the finalists, I worked with my group of presenters to distill their presentations into the most poetic and poignant version possible. We worked to unearth the unique and powerful vantage points each presenter had in… Show more

I was invited to serve as a committee member for the Pecha Kucha Segment of the EPIC 2018 Conference.

As a committee member, I collaborated with 3 other committee members to review submissions for this unique arts meets academia style talk. After reviewing and selecting the finalists, I worked with my group of presenters to distill their presentations into the most poetic and poignant version possible. We worked to unearth the unique and powerful vantage points each presenter had in order to showcase the most authentic version of themselves. Show less

My talk was selected for the 2017 EPIC Conference. The title of my talk was:
Indian Classical Dance: The Foundational Element in My Practice of Ethnography

Synopsis:
Do we really understand how we became practitioners of ethnography?

In this talk, I go through a re-discovery of the links between my lifelong training in Indian classical dance and the elements this has instilled in my current practice of ethnography. In dance, we are trained to keenly observe every physical… Show more

My talk was selected for the 2017 EPIC Conference. The title of my talk was:
Indian Classical Dance: The Foundational Element in My Practice of Ethnography

Synopsis:
Do we really understand how we became practitioners of ethnography?

In this talk, I go through a re-discovery of the links between my lifelong training in Indian classical dance and the elements this has instilled in my current practice of ethnography. In dance, we are trained to keenly observe every physical and emotional nuance of an item. Furthermore, we are taught symbolism and theory to deepen our interpretation of dance. This dance foundation has shaped my connection to every aspect of ethnography: from practice to analysis to presentation.




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My concept for the visualized ethnography gallery was selected for the EPIC 2018 Conference. Here is the synopsis for the piece:

In the business world, does ethnographic evidence live and die with every beginning and ending of a project? Or does evidence from past projects seep into current projects? If so, does that make the current project tainted or enhanced? If we guard against past evidence from influencing our current work, are we inhibiting wisdom or preserving integrity?
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My concept for the visualized ethnography gallery was selected for the EPIC 2018 Conference. Here is the synopsis for the piece:

In the business world, does ethnographic evidence live and die with every beginning and ending of a project? Or does evidence from past projects seep into current projects? If so, does that make the current project tainted or enhanced? If we guard against past evidence from influencing our current work, are we inhibiting wisdom or preserving integrity?

While we aim to approach our work with a beginner’s mind, cannot un-see and un-experience what we have seen in previous field work. Many ethnographers are embracing this previous experience and enthusiastically repurposing the data and wisdom of projects past. As we do this, we are re-contextualizing contextualized data. Drawing from Tricia Wang and her inspiration from Clifford Geertz, when we re-contextualize, our data becomes “thicker.”

Thicker is a piece which explores possibilities found when ethnographers repurpose and re-contextualize evidence from past projects. It depicts the influence of past projects, evidence which is purposefully concealed and revealed, evidence which takes a life of its own, and evidence which is over manipulated to the point of lifelessness.

This meta-contexualization invites the viewer to further thicken the data thought their own contributions and manipulations.

Thicker is a mixed media installation of re-purposed artifacts from ethnographic studies.
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As a columnist, I attend arts and fashion events around San Antonio and interview artists and designers. I then write a bi-weekly column on the featured artists, designer, and/or event.