Avantika BawaBrent Birnbaum

Wyatt BurnsStephanie Dinkins

Patrick Carlin MohundroScott Rogers

What It WasCurated by Project Curate with Adam Parker Smith

May 8 to May 29, 2015

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Project Curate 2014-2015:

Tinia AlbertMirta LopezAngel MontesDestiny PerezGesifed PaucarDavid OrtegaShanice Rodriguez

Teacher Partner:Denise Martinez

Lead Curator:Adam Parker Smith

Part of NURTUREart’s Education Program, Project Curate pro-vides a class of students from Juan Morel Campos High School an opportunity to experience contemporary curatorial practices by working closely with a professional curator for the entire school year, culminating with an exhibition at NURTUREart Gallery. This year their mentor was artist and curator Adam Parker Smith.

Exhibition View, L to R:Patrick Carlin Mohundro, Wyatt Burns, Brent Birnbaum

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What It Was asks us to confront our pasts and explore the potential of alternate and plural futures. In predicting what role art will have in our own lives and the lives of others, we wonder: where will the future be?

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Exhibition View, L to R:Patrick Carlin Mohundro, Wyatt Burns

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Exhibition View, L to R: Avantika Bawa, Stephanie Dinkins, Wyatt Burns, Patrick Carlin Mohundro

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MOB: The curatorial process behind What It Was can be traced back to one class in February during which you asked the stu-dents a series of questions about the fu-ture. What was your objective with that activity?

APS: The future is fun. It’s attached to us, and we control it maybe, but the re-ality of it is looser. We get to incorporate our dreams, hopes, fears, questions, and wishes into a vision that we may fulfill. The future was something we all had in com-mon and somewhere we were all going, so it seemed like a good jumping-off spot.

MOB: Did any of their responses to those questions surprise you?

APS: I planned on being surprised by their answers, but I found many to be conserva-tive, pragmatic, and grounded, which was more surprising.

MOB: Why the future? What interested you and your collaborators about the fu-ture?

APS: My collaborators seemed pessimis-tic about their futures in conversations they had with my co-teachers and me. I wanted to find out where that pessimism was coming from. I didn’t imagine that I would be able to ameliorate any of their outlooks, and I didn’t necessarily want to, but I thought by channeling our conversa-tions and considerations we could all gain perspective.

What would you do after school today if there was no tomorrow?

If there was no future (and you couldn’t get in trouble) and you had 10 cans of spray paint, what would you draw or write?

What is your earliest memory?

When you are old, will your favorite mem-ory be from something you have done al-ready or something you haven’t done yet?

If you controlled your future, what future would you give yourself?

If you controlled Adam’s future, what fu-ture would you make for him?

What future would you make for each oth-er?

What is eternity?

Would you want to live forever?

What will art look like in the future?

What will artists look like in the future?

* A conversation with

Adam Parker Smith

and Molly O’Brien

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MOB: You took on the theme of the fu-ture and didn’t end up with an exhibition of aliens and the apocalypse. How?

APS: We framed most our discussions on a personal view fo the future...and I had some veto power. MOB: What are the different futures pre-sented by the artists in the exhibtion?

APS: Avantika Bawa; global future.Brent Birnbaum; personal future.Wyatt Burns; academic future. Stephanie Dinkins; distopic future.Patrick Mohundro; metaphysical future.Scott Rogers; fictional future.

MOB: Which artist in the exhibition best aligns with your vision of the future?

APS: That’s difficult to say. Other than aliens and dystopia, the future for me is a very personal place. I appreciated the insight that each artist had for their own futures, and the way they presented this to our collaborative group and the pub-lic, but my own future is a remote place equally far away from each of the works in the show.

MOB: What strategies did you use to guide the students on making decisions as curators while simultaneously teaching them what that role means?

APS: We did a fun activity when prepar-ing for installing the exhibition; we imag-

ined each of the works in the show as a person. We talked about what type of personality each of the artworks would have and how they might interact with the others. Are they shy, loud, aggressive, funny? Each of us then became one of the works, assuming the personality of the work. We walked around the gallery in-teracting and rotating until we all found a spot we thought our work would be com-fortable. And that’s where we installed the artworks. MOB: How did working with the high school students expand your notion of the future?

APS: I think every time you meet some-body new, old or young, the future be-comes a more interesting place. You want to find out what happens.

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Q:If you could go into the future and meet your future self, what would you want to remind yourself of?

A: “I would want to remind myself to never stop believing.”

- Tinia Albert

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A: “If I could go into the future and talk to my future self, I think I would just remind myself of the details from just one day. Not any special day, but just the day I had most recently been through. I would do this because although it might not seem important at the time, when I look back on it, I might have been spending time with somebody who I may not get to see in the future, or doing something I could no longer do, and so it would be nice to remember those things with clarity.”

- Adam Parker Smith

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Stephanie DinkinsSentient, 2015Video installation, dimensions variable

A: “Yours is a difficult question. If I met myself in the future, I’d want to remind myself that life is precious and should be lived to the ut-most. I’d also remind myself to make good use of the opportunities I’ve earned. Lastly, I’d remind myself that in the long run life not that serious.”

-Stephanie Dinkins

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Patrick Carlin Mohundro (left to right)

Delta Rothko, 2014Polyester airline blanket, 103 x 97 cm

It’s an Asiana Tworkov, 2015Polyester airline blanket, 56 x 36 inches

A: “If I could go into the future and meet my future self, I would remind myself where I left my phone.”

- Patrick Carlin Mohundro

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Opposite:Avantika BawaAquarmapping, 2013-14Video, 9:39 minutes

A:” If I could go to the future in a time machine, I would tell myself to always remember your past life, don’t forget your true friends like Tania, and to love art.”

- Gesifed Paucar

A:“ I would remind my future self to never give up and stay strong, because life gets harder every day, and when you’re older it will get worse.”

- Destiny Perez

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A:“I would want to remind my future self to stay strong and rock hard!”

- Avantika Bawa

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A:“I would tell myself, ‘Brent’ just be yourself!’” - Brent Birnbaum

A:“I would remind my future self to never forget the people that were there for you and to never forget the ones that walked, because you grew up to be a good man!” - David Ortega

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Brent BirnbaumUntitled, 2015

Paper, tape, wood, markers, ink, paint, screws, 32 x 86 x 3 inches

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Wyatt BurnsBaker/Sanyo, 2015

Mixed media installation, dimensions variable

A:“If I could meet myself in the future, I would remind myself that my rent was $700 and 3D printing was still cool and no one though Waka would be president. “

- Wyatt Burns

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Scott RogersWire Frame, 2009-2015 (ongoing)Photoluminescent tape, dimensions variable

A:“I would remind myself that things take time.”

- Scott Rogers

A:“ I would want to remind myself the days I loved to play football, and also the time when I was a goofball.”

- Angel Montes

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NURTUREart Non-Profit, Inc is a 501(c)3 New York State licensed federally tax-exempt chari-table organization founded in 1997 by George J. Robinson. NURTUREart receives public support from the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Af-fairs, City Council Members Stephen Levin and Antonio Reynoso, and the New York City De-partment of Education. NURTUREart is also supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the British Council of Northern Ireland, Con Edison, the Greenwich Collection, Ltd., the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Milton and Sally

Avery Arts Foundation, and the Walentas Fam-ily Foundation. We receive in-kind support from Blick Art Materials, Lagunitas, Tekserve, and Volun-teer Lawyers for the Arts. NURTUREart is grateful for significant past support from the Liebovitz Foundation and the Greenwall Foundation, and to the many generous individuals and businesses whose contributions have supported us throughout our history. Finally, we would like to acknowl-edge the artists who have contributed works of art to past benefits—our continued success would be impossible without your generosity.

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