What is the future and how do you predict it? This simple question has taken on new and profound meaning in our contemporary moment, bringing both anxiety and hope. Join four practitioners of the future—artist and founder of Afrotectopia Ari Melenciano, predictive astrologer and former skeptic Samuel F. Reynolds, and Oppenheimer and Company Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst, Sustainable Growth & Resource Optimization, Colin Rusch—for a conversation, moderated by Roderick Schrock, Executive Director of Eyebeam, about how they view time, conduct research into the past, consider the unknown, and imagine and predict the future. Bringing distinct and dynamic perspectives to the conversation, the panelists provide insights into how we might shape our own futures.
(Top, left to right) Ari Melenciano, Samuel F. Reynolds (Bottom, left to right) Colin Rusch, Roderick Schrock
About the Panelists
Ari Melenciano is an artist, designer, creative technologist, and researcher, who is passionate about exploring the relationships between various forms of design and sentient experiences. She is a creative technologist at Google’s Creative Lab, teaching and research fellow at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Graduate Program, and founder of Afrotectopia, a social institution fostering interdisciplinary innovation across art, design, technology, Black culture, and activism. Her award-winning work has been supported and exhibited by a variety of institutions, including Sundance, New Inc, New York Times, and The Studio Museum of Harlem. She often guest lectures at universities around the world.
Samuel F. Reynolds, a former skeptic, had a life changing visit with an astrologer, and has since spent nearly 30 years reading charts and studying astrology. Reynolds consults, writes, and teaches astrology full time. He also serves on a number of organizational boards, including the International Society for Astrological Research, and has written for many publications, including Ebony, New York Magazine, MySign.com, The Mountain Astrologer, and Pride.
Colin Rusch is a Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst and leads Oppenheimer & Co.’s Sustainable Growth & Resource Optimization franchise. Colin has extensive experience in the Industrial Efficiency and CleanTech space. He started his equity research career at Piper Jaffray and has worked at Northland, ThinkEquity and Broadpoint Capital prior to joining Oppenheimer. Colin holds a BA from Wesleyan University. Prior to pursuing a career on Wall Street he worked with numerous arts and service organizations including the Walker Art Center and MIGIZI Communications while maintaining a somatic exploration and performance practice.
Roderick Schrock is an arts executive and curator. He leads the functional capacities of Eyebeam’s direct artist support and guides the organization’s focus to realign societal relationships with emergent technologies. He currently also teaches in the Curatorial Practice MA Program at the School of Visual Arts. He received an MFA from Mills College and a certificate in nonprofit management at Harvard University. His essays have been published by MIT Press, and he writes regularly for online publications, such as Hyperallergic. He is a member of the Guild of Future Architects, sits on the Netherlands America Foundation Cultural Committee, and is a founding board member of Art+Feminism.
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