Afrotectopia Founder Ari Melenciano’s Brooklyn Home

Quarantine has taught me that I don’t want a lot so far as the exterior world,” says Ari Melenciano, a multidisciplinary artist, theorist, and educator, from her dwelling loft in Mattress-Stuy. “I can actually simply stay on this world that I’ve created and have a complete portal [to the world] with the Web. I like New York Metropolis, however I don’t must be in a metropolis. I don’t actually must be anyplace, particularly. Simply being within an area that I get to design feels good.”

Melenciano is nonetheless an optimist. Or a minimum of she has been working to think about a greater — extra humane — future, and a method for us to get there. In 2017, she based Afrotectopia, a “social establishment” that’s typically a faculty, typically a pageant, typically a summer season camp, and at all times centered on bringing folks and concepts collectively to discover Black futurism in all its plentiful prospects. “Afrotectopia is a lot about planting seeds,” she says. “Let’s create an area and see what folks do with it; let’s share info and see the place folks run with it. And folks at all times do one thing way more superb than I might ever have envisioned.”

Within the worlds of artwork and design, as on the earth at massive, many obstacles — social, monetary, and conceptual — have stored these fields, within the skilled sense, very slender. And really white. There are various extra designers and artists of coloration who go unrecognized for his or her work or turn into discouraged by a system that doesn’t appear interested by their contributions. Afrotectopia and Melenciano’s work are about bringing extra folks and extra concepts into the fold and making extra intersections the place thrilling concepts and careers can flourish.

Ari Melenciano, a multi disciplinary artist and the founding father of Afrotectopia, lives in a loft in Mattress-Stuy that she’s made into an area for inventive tasks.
Picture: Sean Santiago

This summer season, Afrotectopia hosted the Imaginarium, a free weekly public program that includes talks from artists — like Olalekan Jeyifous, Olivia McKayla Ross, and Ayodamola Okunseinde — on subjects like inventing a radical Black technoculture and designing a remote-learning curriculum for underresourced communities. Afrotectopia additionally funded ten Imagineer fellowships for college kids to immerse themselves in a curriculum Melenciano designed.

“There’s worth in creativeness,” says Melenciano, 27. “Having the area to think about amongst different Black folks is inspiring.”

Melenciano’s ever-evolving inventive venture started in earnest when she was a graduate scholar in NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP). In 2018, the primary Afrotectopia pageant was spun off from a venture she accomplished for her diploma, however the roots of this work go a lot additional again. Born within the Bronx to oldsters who immigrated from the Dominican Republic, Melenciano moved to Prince George’s County, Maryland — a D.C. suburb identified for its thriving Black center class — when she was in elementary faculty.

A voracious reader, Melenciano writes down memorable quotes from her books on a scroll of paper tacked up subsequent to her library. She designed the poster for Afrotectopia’s 2019 pageant, which was held at Google’s Chelsea Market headquarters. Images: Sean Santiago.

A voracious reader, Melenciano writes down memorable quotes from her books on a scroll of paper tacked up subsequent to her library. She designed the poster… extra
A voracious reader, Melenciano writes down memorable quotes from her books on a scroll of paper tacked up subsequent to her library. She designed the poster for Afrotectopia’s 2019 pageant, which was held at Google’s Chelsea Market headquarters. Images: Sean Santiago.

The primary job she dreamed of getting was as an architect. “I noticed structure as one of many predominant types of artwork that engaged with folks each single day, and I wished to make the world extra lovely for everybody,” she remembers. In the meantime, one in every of her early heros was Steve Jobs: Her mother nicknamed her “Gadget Girl” as a result of she carried a backpack filled with electronics together with her in every single place. After faculty on the College of Maryland, she wished to create extra immersive experiences together with her work, so she went to NYU’s ITP, which is understood for nurturing innovators. It was a revelation in a few methods: First, getting access to the instruments and data was thrilling, however second, she noticed barely another Black college students, college, or mentors. She questioned what it might be like if all her mates at dwelling had entry to this world and the way which may influence their inventive expression. Melenciano determined to resolve the issue herself and create the group she wished to be in. The theme of the inaugural Afrotectopia pageant was imagining methods through which tech could possibly be used to eradicate social disparities, and it introduced collectively folks with backgrounds in city design, coverage, legislation, training, and well being care to conceive the chances.

Since then, Afrotectopia has expanded. Final 12 months, it held its second pageant and arranged a summer season camp for center and excessive schoolers that taught the scholars coding and the right way to make issues like interactive sound sculptures and information visualizations. Afrotectopia has additionally hosted talks and workshops on subjects like creating an anti-racist technoculture and has developed interactive tasks like Metamorphosis, an “audio-visual therapeutic setting.” In the meantime, Melenciano teaches design programs at Pratt (on visible communications), NYU (on the design and historical past of nightclubs), and Hunter School (on the sounds of social revolutions) and is a prolific public speaker within the educational world. The primary time I realized about her work was in the course of the Harvard Graduate Faculty of Design’s 2019 Black in Design Convention, the place she spoke about her imaginative and prescient of a nonhierarchical group of individuals constructing an inclusive future centered on Black empowerment.

“My life might be going 150 bpm — it’s simply too quick,” she says. “However I don’t know the right way to remedy that as a result of every thing I’m doing feeds me a lot.”

Melenciano’s non-public world, like her skilled one, is about making area for inventive expression and exploration. The loft she rents on the cusp of Mattress-Stuy and South Williamsburg is a spot the place she hacks synthesizers, makes her personal electronics, paints, DJs, sews, and, when time permits, simply sits with a cup of tea and reads.

She gave us a tour.

Whereas she not often paints nowadays, Melenciano retains palettes round as a reminder that being an artist was the very first thing she recognized herself to be. Her art work started in tangible media, however has moved virtually solely to electromedia. The palettes additionally encourage her in regards to the prospects of coloration. Melenciano designed the poster hanging behind her to greet 2019 pageant attendees on the door. “I wished to remind everybody coming into the area that Afrotectopia was designed to nurture our creativeness and domesticate our company in designing our futures,” she says. Images: Sean Santiago.

Whereas she not often paints nowadays, Melenciano retains palettes round as a reminder that being an artist was the very first thing she recognized herself to … extra
Whereas she not often paints nowadays, Melenciano retains palettes round as a reminder that being an artist was the very first thing she recognized herself to be. Her art work started in tangible media, however has moved virtually solely to electromedia. The palettes additionally encourage her in regards to the prospects of coloration. Melenciano designed the poster hanging behind her to greet 2019 pageant attendees on the door. “I wished to remind everybody coming into the area that Afrotectopia was designed to nurture our creativeness and domesticate our company in designing our futures,” she says. Images: Sean Santiago.

I’ve been residing on this house for 2 years. After I noticed it, it was like a dream. The open area was very nice, the home windows, and all the sunshine that is available in; it simply felt good. Earlier than this, I used to be residing a couple of blocks away in Clinton Hill.

In New York, you get two out of three issues: being near a practice station, so you may get anyplace; a pleasant place to stay that’s spacious; or a great location, prefer it’s good exterior of your constructing. I really feel like my house is 2 out of the three. It’s not so good exterior of my constructing.

I’ve so many tasks in every single place. I can simply bounce round to various things. All of my devices — they’re mainly my toys — are in every single place. I mess around with my modular synthesizer, then I’m again to my laptop coding, or I’m DJing.

Throughout this quarantine time, I’ve beloved it greater than anybody that I’ve met or identified. Folks ask me, How are you doing? And I’m like, I’m nice. I by no means have to go away my dwelling. That is good.

The Play-Doh is left over from a summer course Melenciano taught for Wix. She supposed to stain and promote the wooden coasters a pair years in the past, however by no means received round to it.
Picture: Sean Santiago

I like bodily computing. It’s like coding, however as an alternative, you’re creating with sensors and microcontrollers. It’s mainly robotics, and that permits me to make my machines. After I’m doing bodily computing, it’s normally in relation to sound. I’ll make sound machines that permit folks to compose music with an uncommon UX. You may wave your hand over one thing and it’ll flip that movement right into a sound [like a theremin].

One of many extra completed items that I created was referred to as Electro•Negro•Synesthesyo, the place I used to be fascinated with Black cultural artifacts which can be typically negatively stigmatized, however are very lovely to me, and imagined their presence sooner or later. I used to be fascinated with how I might use tradition and sound to create this entire expertise via bodily computation. If you touched sure sections of the do-rag, bamboo earrings, hair rollers, and hair, they performed beat loops of African drum-patterned music. If you modified the Afro picks throughout the aligned slot, they modified the visuals being projected onto a display screen.

Melenciano is educating herself to stitch, and this gown is one in every of her first tasks. She additionally collects movie cameras — and even tried to construct one — and this immediate digital camera from Lomography will get probably the most mileage. Images: Sean Santiago.

Melenciano is educating herself to stitch, and this gown is one in every of her first tasks. She additionally collects movie cameras — and even tried to construct one — and… extra
Melenciano is educating herself to stitch, and this gown is one in every of her first tasks. She additionally collects movie cameras — and even tried to construct one — and this immediate digital camera from Lomography will get probably the most mileage. Images: Sean Santiago.

I frolicked in quarantine educating myself the right way to sew and wished to go away the quarantine life-style by solely carrying garments I’ve made and never shopping for any extra from shops. I haven’t gotten near that objective but. However this piece was an experiment with a couple of items of material I’ve had for some time. I love patterns.

Melenciano makes use of her synth to make her personal music, which is usually primarily based on African drum beats. She discovered the marbled paper at Paper Supply some time in the past, and intends to make use of it in an artwork piece.
Picture: Sean Santiago

For me, DJ-ing is actually about entering into your groove and understanding your self. After DJ-ing across the metropolis, I found that I’m not very comfy in areas the place I’m creating the hype or amping folks up. It’s way more about appreciating the sonic texture and stress-free.

I even have a modular synthesizer. For me, as an individual who grew up loving devices and tech, it’s the final word tech toy. Every little thing is so tactile. It’s a Eurorack, so it’s all about turning these knobs and patching cables to make sounds. A synth is ready up for the music you need to create, and for me it’s about rhythms and drum patterns.

Amassing books is such an necessary factor to me, nevertheless it can also make me really feel anxious, like, I don’t know how I’m going to get via all these books in my life.

Most of Melenciano’s furnishings at City Outfitters, one in every of her favourite locations to buy dwelling items. She likes to have a mixture of curved items — just like the Artwork Deco-inspired couch, marble espresso desk, and rattan chair — to steadiness out the extra geometric ones.
Picture: Sean Santiago

My books make me so pleased, and I’m so pleased with my library. It’s a mirrored image of the issues I’m fascinated with. I’ve Architecture in the Age of Radio [a book on Buckminster Fuller]; Adam Pendelton’s Black Dada; Basquiat’s Defacement. I like my copy of Hippie Modernism, by Andrew Blauvelt. Different favorites proper now are Lo-TEK, on indigenous design, and African Fractals: Modern Computing and Indigenous Design. Quite a lot of my library is expounded to sound, so I’ve books on psychedelic sound, the way forward for sound, and the historical past of rap. Then there’s essential race idea, geopolitics, and technical sorts of issues.

I’m typically requested what books I’m studying, so I made a list that I could easily send to people. I treasure the books that I’ve, as a result of they’re on such fascinating subjects, and I’m at all times excited for different folks to have the ability to study from them as nicely. I felt it might be useful for folks to have the ability to parse via the listing in the event that they knew the final nature of the books listed, so I added color-coded highlighting. And I’ve a nasty behavior of beginning and never ending loads of totally different books, so it’s personally a useful reminder for me to see what books I must return to and end.

A studying listing was necessary too for the Imaginarium. It allowed the fellows to construct conversations via literature. We studied the work of prolific innovators within the fields we have been exploring for that week, and each Sunday we engaged in dialog round what we learn. It was an space of focus that the fellows might replicate on, study from, and [use to] affect the work they developed.

Her file assortment consists of soul classics, like James Brown’s Get Up Offa That Factor. Different favorites she spins? Toro Y Moi and Santigold.
Picture: Sean Santiago

I wished to place a disco ball proper within the heart of the lounge, hanging from the ceiling. One thing that lets you acknowledge how tall the ceilings are. Dwelling in a loft that’s so open, I’ve been fascinated with partitions and making synthetic partitions out of yarn or one thing, simply so that you’re capable of cross via one thing so there’s a little bit of a psychological shift. However I like how open it’s; there’s loads of gentle that comes via, and it’s actually fueling and renewing.

A peaceable day is once I get to begin it off by taking my tea to the sofa and studying the Tao. I’m centered on bettering myself as a lot as potential each single day. Certainly one of my favourite issues about studying philosophy is it’s so abstracted from actuality, nevertheless it additionally typically will get to the foundation of actuality sufficient the place you’ll be able to replicate on the issues which can be happening in your life and what’s happening on the earth however at a vantage level the place you’ll be able to step again and have a look at the fuller image.

However with the college 12 months beginning, I don’t get to learn and sit on the sofa a lot; I’m actually simply at my desk in Zoom conferences. However on the weekend, a deal with could be mendacity on the sofa and searching on the clouds exterior the window.

Melenciano reads the Tao Te Ching day by day.
Picture: Sean Santiago