2015 Practicum Descriptions

Brendan Fernandes

will be preparing exhibitions and exploring dance and movement.
My work investigates the plasticity of personal identity, foregrounding in particular the process of migration. In my newest work I draw on these explorations in order to look at the intimate relation between embodiment and identity. I look at how movement techniques are recalled in the body via muscle memory and I explore this phenomenon through cultural dance, ballet and the language that prescribes directions for the dancer to move. I am looking for a mentee who has an interest in “movement” and “choreography”. I am not looking for a dancer specifically, but want to work with someone who can think and interpret these terms. I am working towards a few shows for the Fall and would like to work with a mentee who has basic video editing, web and graphic design skills, and is able to mock up drawings in Sketch Up. As well I will be making some collaged works that play with ideas of gesture and movement and will need assistance cutting paper and assembling these pieces. Together we will foster a working relationship where I am happy to offer critiques on your ideas and works in-progress. I am excited to have you participate with me in social events, where we will explore New York summer art scene as well. I am looking for someone who can work with me the first two weeks of June pre my first show. I will then be gone for two weeks, but hope you can work independently and then in July we will continue the mentorship.

Pablo Helguera

is planning a large performance project, plus research and coordinating on two other upcoming projects.

My Practicum will entail:
1. assistance with the planning and presentation of a large performance project to be presented in NYC in the fall of 2015.
2. research and coordinating help for the presentation of Librería Donceles, a Spanish language used bookstore, in Seattle in the fall of 2015.
3. research and help in organizing a social practice project with a the neighborhood of Santa Maria la Ribera in Mexico City for 2016, focusing on local social history and geology.

What I need:
– an independent, highly motivated individual
– someone able to work individually in assigned projects
-interest and curiosity in contemporary art practices, art education, and in particular socially engaged art a big plus
– Knowledge of Spanish preferred: writing and editing skills/ability to translate Spanish-English and vice versa
– interest in museums desirable
– technical knowledge also preferred: video editing, photoshop or Indesign, and any other design software a plus
– knowledge or experience with installing an exhibition and shipping art work preferred
– punctuality and strong organization skills are key

What I can offer:
– a stimulating environment for learning and growth for an emerging artist
– an introduction to the New York art world and gallery scene
– career advice and support/feedback for mentee’s ongoing or new projects
– help with contacts in New York including alternative art centers, artists, curators, writers, etc.
– help with contacts with curators, alternative art centers, museums, etc. in other parts of the US, Latin America and Europe
– advice with writing projects including artist statements, essays, and fiction
– if required, advice on museum education or other types of museum careers
– introduction to MoMA and its collection/history/ organizational structure, etc.

David Horvitz

will be working on things. You can help.
David Horvitz will be working on things on Governor’s Island. It may involve beach glass, or time zones; it’s still/always in flux. He is looking for someone who is willing to be willing. He will show you Amanita Virosa and share Gleditsia Triacanthos with you.

Marisa Jahn

is working on a series of public art projects.
I’ll be working on Video Slink Uganda (sneaking or “slinking” experimental videos onto bootleg DVDs); the NannyVan (a bright orange mobile design studio and sound lab that accelerates the movement for domestic workers’ rights); El BIbliobandido (a story-eating masked bandit who terrorizes little kids until they write and offer him stories they’ve written). My ideal mentee is someone who is self-motivated, resourceful, interested in the mix between research and creative production, into collaborative authorship, and communicative. As my practice right now is not based in a studio, you would join me both in my apartment in the Upper West Side and out in the field. Working with me, you would learn how to apply fine art and design skills to a public art and activist context; you would also learn how to collaborate, embed, and integrate with existing social movements and organizations.

Steve Lambert

Jen Liu

will be shooting a new film, choreographing, and 3D animating.
My mentee will work together with me in all aspects of video production, with actors, sets, props, costumes, editing, music composition, all of it. We’ll be talking about the history of revolution, economic insecurity, failed aesthetic models, and goofy futurism, among many other things. In some ways it’ll be a sequel to this video: https://vimeo.com/103332825. We’ll also be finishing up a related performance with dancers and projections of analog and 3D animation. Skills in animation, video, and sculptural methods for props and sets (especially plaster and metal) are not necessary, but this menteeship would be ideal for someone who’s interested, and would like to put their interest to work. Finally, there will be some research/digital archiving, particularly of vintage Communist films and other materials I’ll just have picked up in China – and as with all archiving, someone who’s organized is ideal. My practicum will run from mid-June to mid-August.

Mary Mattingly

is working on collaborative, public sculptures this summer.
I’m seeking a mentee who would like to explore ecosystem-building with me in different capacities this summer. From a performance space made of “waste” to a floating food forest, we will be working on projects simultaneously in Havana, New York, Toronto, Philadelphia, and Anchorage, building long-term living systems in each place. Our process would combine research with project planning, working through permitting processes, 3D modeling, public presentations, participatory budgeting, and workshop co-facilitation. We would also work closely with the Environmental Humanities department at the University of Pennsylvania and the ICA on WetLand as a site and experiment for art and life in the anthropocene. My ideal mentee would be able to start mid-June and work with me through mid-August in New York, with the possibility for working together longer-term. In exchange for working with me this summer, I will work with you on developing your work, share my working process, experiences with different forms of collaboration, roadmaps for permitting and creating large-scale projects, and introduce you to many of the other artists and collaborators I work with.

Jennifer and Kevin McCoy

are going back into the R&D tunnel and using the blockchain to authenticate digital art.
For the summer Practicum, the mentee will primarily work with Kevin at New Inc, the art and business incubator at the New Museum. We are looking for someone interested in community outreach and engagement who is fluent in social media. The summer will provide opportunities to connect with a large swath of the art economy including museums, galleries, auction houses, artists and new media professionals.

Not an Alternative

will be working on programs related to our new, ongoing project.
The Natural History Museum offers exhibitions, expeditions, educational workshops and public programming. Unlike traditional natural history museums, it includes and highlights the social and political forces that shape nature. This summer we will be working with communities on the front lines of the climate crisis, coordinating local tours, field expeditions, and skills workshops in our 15-passenger mobile museum bus. If funding comes through, we’ll also be converting a public school auditorium into a natural history museum exhibition. We’ll also continue shooting video interviews with prominent scientists, artists, anthropologists, historians, theorists and activists.

We’re looking for a mentee who is interested in the intersection of art, activism, and theory. We can tailor a program based on your skills and interests. Ideally you have interest or experience with more than one of the following:
– production and exhibition design / construction
– studio assistance (organizing, procurement, etc.)
– videography: shooting and editing
– community organizing and outreach
– website content population; social media support
– conducting museum tours in costume

We invest heavily in apprentices and collaborators. We’re a collective, and between us we have chops in graphic design, animation, video production, theory writing, event production, community organizing, and other skills we’d be happy to help you develop. You won’t be pushing paper, and you’ll leave this experience a changed person.

William Powhida

is working on a solo exhibition and with Jennifer Dalton on a public art project about housing.
This summer I will be working on developing a new solo exhibition for Charlie James Gallery in Los Angeles and developing a collaborative public art project with artist Jennifer Dalton. The first project will be deeply involved in the studio while the second project will involve research and planning for Residence, a series of public events situated in private residences in the city. I am looking for an artist who is both comfortable working in the studio to assist with production, as well as communicating with people to assist Jen and I in our planning of Residence. From our proposal: “Our goal for the project is to expand the conversation around housing and gentrification by highlighting and satirizing class privilege within the sites of the problem. Residence will get people out of their familiar habitats, giving them a glimpse of how others live and enlarging their and our perspectives. Our conversations will be a safe space for awkward questions. Is shelter a right or a privilege?” Residence is still in the funding stages in partnership with http://moreart.org/, but we are planning for an October-November launch of the project. Ideally, I’d like to share my studio and projects with someone with a healthy sense of humor so we can contend with some serious social and political realities without losing our minds.
As a mentor, I hope to offer you an opportunity to participate in the process of developing two distinct projects that will provide you with some practical studio experience, while also introducing you to individuals and groups involved in the struggle for affordable housing in New York City. My studio is located in DUMBO, Brooklyn at the New York Studio Residency Program which will also be hosting art students from MICA and CCA offering an opportunity to interact with other art students. The facility has a shared wood shop, kitchen, and some common workspace which you can make use of as my mentee. I also hope to offer introductions to other artists, activists, and critics in and out of the studio over the course of the summer. It’s a great time to hang out in the city and talk about this often bizarre thing we do called art.

Kenya (Robinson)

is making multiples of the #WHITEMANINMYPOCKET.
At any given time I am working on at least three projects that are loosely, or tightly connected, and I hope to connect with an apprentice that can appreciate my scatological approach. The #WHITEMANINMYPOCKET series has lived on Instagram as a kind of digital performance, but has recently become a sculptural product of ceramic multiples. I would especially appreciate help in fabrication and installation, coupled with an openness to suggestions of placement and how this project might continue to live in the digital space. The other two projects I have in mind are CHEEKY LaSHAE (a performative alter ego) and #radioROSSI and its flagship show #TRASHDAY. Work on these projects will involve song selection, venue research, social media engagement, tour merchandise development, help in managing playlists, ensuring clearances for music and sound editing. Ideas for #radioROSSI content would be welcomed, along with establishing a social media presence and building a graphics deck, website, blog or Tumblr. Ideally, I would like to work with an artist who wants to strengthen their interdisciplinary skills. Competency in Adobe Creative Suite, the ability to compose emails that are 10 sentences or less and demonstrated reliability are top level requirements. In exchange I will be similarly committed to offering enriching experiences while respecting your personal practice.

Brad Troemel

will be doing research and experimenting.

This summer I plan to take a break. Well, not really. I’ve done around 40 exhibitions in the past two years and I fear I’m getting into too slick of a production groove. That’s why this summer I plan to take a more experimental approach to time in the studio. My art making process usually consists of having a set of materials in mind, testing them out, and then revising my initial assumptions about how they should interact with each other, the viewer, the space, etc. There are a ton of materials I want to try out incorporating into my work, here’s 3 off the top of my head so you can get an idea:

1. Gallium
2. Enlarging polymer
3. Hydrophobic spray

So our time in the studio would consist of a kind of weird science vibe where we’d be messing around with wacky materials I buy off the internet and try to figure out how to import into a gallery.

My expectation from you would be to assist my with experiments in the studio and to help me with the research end of my work. In addition to working with new materials I’d also like to start bringing in new references, which would require a knowledge expansion into other fields. Past things I’ve spent plenty of time researching include: Bitcoins, anonymous online black markets, the history of precious metals in American currency, drones, terrorist organizations’ graphic design, etc. I would give you a topic and two weeks later expect you to give me a brief presentation on it– to become a mini-expert. After the brief presentation we’d have a discussion where I’d ask you questions and you could help me understand the topic better.

I don’t want this to be a one-way street. It’s important to me that you’re aware of my work and more importantly my peers’ work because I want to be able to hang out with you socially on the weekends and introduce you to the people I know over beers and other mind altering substances. What I offer in return for your hard work is an opportunity to have complete social access to the people I know and have built relationships with over my past 5 years living and working in New York: fellow artists, fellow writers and critics, curators, art dealers, art collectors, and everyone in between. To get to know this many people this quickly is next to impossible and would be ideal for someone looking to eventually make a transition into living in New York and working in the art world professionally.

Clement Valla

will be researching alternate histories of photography and working on a series of prints, sculptures, and websites.

These prints and sculpture will be reproductions of objects from various museums in New York and Washington DC. Their production and the research we’ll be conducting will involve experimenting with different photo-based modeling and digital output technologies. I’m looking for help with research – there are lots of online and physical photo archives to dig through. I’m also looking for someone who can help or is interested in photo-editing, 3D modeling, building websites, twitter bots, and programming. Basically someone curious, who loves museums, collections and archives, and is resourceful (not necessarily adept but willing to engage) with digital tools, photo-based sculpture, building, and coding. You’ll learn a ton about working with digital tools, about making work that lives both online and off, about ways to engage with museums and their collections. Through research we’ll both hopefully learn a lot about the history of photo-based modeling from it’s inception in 1849 right through to present day applications like Google Earth and 123D Catch.

Marina Zurkow

is preparing a gallery show and working on the Field Guide to the Dark Ecologies of New York.

I will be focused on two projects this summer:
– preparing a gallery show for the late fall
– starting work on a coalition-building Field Guide to the Dark Ecologies of New York.

The exhibition entails completing 12 animations — studies of cites, their global connections, their local expressions and environmental palimpsests, as well as exploring sculptural and/or 3D printed interfaces that can connect them. I’m also starting work (a research and community assets mapping phase) on the Field Guide to the Dark Ecologies of New York. This coalition-building effort includes: identifying, mapping and interviewing artists, cultural and environmental producers of ecological knowledge about the 5 boroughs that addresses the Anthropocene. Most artists I know working on the issues of climate change, or interspecies paradigm shifts feel like meaningless specks, given the pressures of time and real-world repercussions to continuing Business As Usual. Carol Stakenas is collaborating on this project with me.

The goal of this project is two-fold:
– to identify people working in the “Anthropocene Space” (artists, toxicologists, environmental groups, citizen scientists) and their work
– to map and diagram the systemic issues specific to New York: river/waterway/ocean connections, through the ports, canals, harbors, and sounds that consist of economic, social and biological ecosystems

I am looking for a mentee who is either
– interested in learning and executing animations based on the studio’s strategies (mine are idiosyncratic, I draw in Flash, much of the work is rotoscoping or figuring out how to move patterns around in “interesting” ways). I am also looking at using sculpture/installation to bring this series into the physical world.
– keen to learn systemic thinking and real world inquiry, to work on an intensive research and coalition-building project in the field.

Skills involved in these areas:
– animation: drawing with a Wacom, stylistically conforming to a predetermined design program
– fabrication experience would be great – if you have any special skills not listed here, let me know!
– research: interview skills, systems thinking, research, writing and documentation both in the studio and in the field

What I can offer a mentee:
– research and studio production skill building
– systems thinking tools
– social practice and gallery practice exposure
– transparency on how I manage my work and subsidize the studio
– good food (often we make lunch and eat together at the studio)
– critical feedback on your work, and advice on writing artist statements and proposals
– exposure to the community of artists and makers I interact with as an artist and teacher at ITP
– generous credit on the projects you work on

Time frame:
Ideally, a mentee would want to work 2-3 days a week, be self-motivated, consistent, communicative, and can arrive on time. (Animation is a slow process, and there is a learning curve. Same thing with field research). 8 weeks, or summer-long are both good options. I am out of town May 25 – June 12, July 18 – Aug 2,and Aug 25-30; I can work remotely except July 18-26, when I will be off the grid.