Apr 13, 2026
This week on Bad at Sports, Duncan MacKenzie, Brian Andrews, and Abigail Satinsky sit down with Nato Thompson for a conversation that spans collapsing institutions, alternative economies, and what it actually means to sustain a life in art.
Recorded in the context of an art fair ecosystem that increasingly blurs community, commerce, and survival, Thompson reflects on his path from Creative Time to Philadelphia Contemporary (RIP unrealized museum), and into his current multi-pronged practice: consulting, artist support, and the evolving Alternative Art School.
What starts as a casual catch-up quickly becomes something sharper: a diagnosis of failing art school models, a critique of nonprofit dependency, and a proposal for artist-centered infrastructures that actually function.
Along the way: dark matter artists, subscription economies, global classrooms, refrigerator exhibitions, and the radical idea that maybe art isn’t a career ladder at all.
Nato Thompson — https://natothompson.com/
Duncan MacKenzie — https://kurasmackenzie.com/
Brian Andrews — https://www.brianandrews.org/
Abigail Satinsky — https://www.abigailsatinsky.com/
Creative Time — https://creativetime.org/
Philadelphia Contemporary —
https://philadelphiacontemporary.org/
Alternative Art School —
https://alternativeartschool.net/
e-flux — https://www.e-flux.com/
Anton Vidokle — https://www.e-flux.com/about/anton-vidokle/
Powerhouse Arts — https://powerhousearts.org/
Raqs Media Collective — https://raqsmediacollective.net/
Tania Bruguera — https://www.taniabruguera.com/
Guadalupe Maravilla —
https://www.guadalupemaravilla.com/
Jeremy Deller — https://www.jeremydeller.org/
Lexa Walsh — https://www.lexawalsh.com/
Times Square Arts — https://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-arts