Jesús Ocampo Aguilar

Jesús Ocampo Aguilar is a Mexican artist, architect, and lecturer affiliated with MIT's Art, Culture, and Technology (ACT) program. He holds a Master of Science from MIT's School of Architecture + Planning (SMACT ’21). Currently serving as a visiting lecturer in ACT, he previously held roles as an ACT Postgraduate Resident (2021–2022), Harvard University Film Studies Center Fellow, and postgraduate fellow at MIT's ACT program.

• Creative Director & Partner at dérive LAB: Art/architecture firm addressing housing, urban design, and cultural management.
• Cofounder of BEMA: Cultural and research center in Querétaro, Mexico.
• Cofounder of ppppress: Student-run independent press.

His practice explores interfaces between art, technology, and urban systems to challenge deterministic conceptions of space. Key themes include migration, bureaucracy, climate change, and human/non-human relationships. Notable projects include Interfaces of the Invisible (2022–2023), Expect People to be Exhausted (2020), and P.I.P. Ciudad Futuro (public infrastructure for climate adaptation).

Awards:

• Second Place, 2021 Schnitzer Prize
• Mexican National Fund for the Arts Award

Teaching roles include Introduction to Artistic Experimentation (MIT, 2023) and courses at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Universidad Anáhuac, and Wentworth Tech. Collaborative projects involve institutions like UNAM’s Geoscience Center and MIT Media Lab’s City Science Group.