Nato Thompson, Class of 1990
CURRENT LOCATION:
North Adams, Massachusetts
FAMILY LIFE:
EDUCATION:
OK. Just thought I would send some words to my old high school. I recently visited
the astoundingly oppressive Santa Clarita Valley where strip malls are apparently
still in fashion and progress apparently decided through number of culs-de-sac. It made me
fairly nostalgic and I thought I would update this web page on my thoroughly strange life.
You might remember me because not only was I the student body president, but more
importantly, I was the student body president who was kicked out for selling acid. To
be quite honest, to this day I am convinced it was a dopey plan by the petty faculty
at Saugus to get the trouble-maker out of office. I never really enjoyed the antics
of that ridiculous faculty and still to this day think that high school is purely a
holding tank for kids so parents can slave away at work. My fond memories of
high school derive principally from skipping class and getting drunk up at the water pipe.
Once I graduated, I wanted to get the hell out of SCV. I spent a year working on
crappy B-movies with my dad, and then fled to the Bay area. I went to junior college
for two years and then went to UC Berkeley. I loved it there so much that I actually
attempted to never leave. I stayed at UCB for four more years. In that period, I joined
various Marxist political groups and eventually joined more desirously beautiful anarchist
folks. After that period, some pals and I opened up a political art social space, where
we had art shows and political organizing events. I enjoyed it for a while, but began
to suffer from the agony of bad pay. I decided to go to graduate school at the School
of the Art Institute of Chicago in Arts Administration. I thought I would actually open
an art space after that but quickly got into writing for art magazines and curating art
exhibitions. That actually turned out very well. Maybe my days at organizing punk
bands at Saugus helped. (although bear in mind that one time in the hazy days of
1990, the principal, Mr. Von Buelow, brought me in his office and demanded to know
why the lead singer of Guillotine had been gesticulating toward his penis while he
was singing during lunch in the quad? That is also when we had our first school sponsored
slam dance. Is that too funny? God, why didn't I get that conversation on tape!)
EMPLOYMENT:
After graduating, I got a job at a contemporary art museum in Massachusetts as
Assistant Curator. I have since put together two big-ass shows with the last one being a
survey of political art of the 1990s. The show had a book I put together published
by MIT Press. I am now Associate Curator here and I love it. I still do a lot of
political work (not so long ago I was arrested by MTV for trying to liberate the
actors of the real world from their unreality).
Visit Mass MoCA.org
FINAL NOTE:
Saugus High School is simply lame. I believe in public education but not quite convinced
that the point of me being at Saugus was in fact education. I really learned a lot, but
more on a sociological basis. That is to say, I learned how absolutely crazy institutions
can be and how they flagrantly instill the racist, classist values that I can't stand in the
world. Let me guess, Saugus High School is still racist and still alienates its Hispanic
population, still puts them in slow kid classes and still supports racist 'gang' rules like no
sports clothing. Let me guess, many of the teachers (particularly those involved with
student government, sports, and administration) have an almost clinical fascination
with bad '80s John Hughes high school films and strangely adore the popular crowd
more than any one else does. Let me guess: the honors classes still consist of kids
that have known each other since grade school and share more in economic income
than any rudimentary cognitive acceleration. Oh, I could go on and on, but high school
really was a joke. I think we all know that, but I can't be sure of that either.
Send Nato a note.
Last Updated: October, 2004
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