MATTHEW MOSHER

intermedia artist

ARTIST STATEMENT

I make uncomfortable machines and algorithmic sculptures that reflect the contemporary American condition. I use coding in the design process to parameterize and randomize inputs, which allows me to quickly iterate multiple forms. I then selectively refine these forms into finished works. Adding randomization introduces an unpredictable element to the process, and references the historic use of chance operations in the visual and performing arts. I enjoy the interplay between these modes of work: writing code, iterating forms, revision, and production showing the artist’s hand.

I align material and concept, making my work in whichever medium best suits the piece. As a result, I am constantly using and experimenting with a range of materials, which has led me to creating with welding, woodworking, casting, digital printing, and programming. I am drawn to the organic growth of rust, the softness of wood, the fragility of plaster, the reflection of light, the pervasiveness of sound, and the cleanliness of code. I weave materiality, texture, patina, and geometry to create sculptures that seem simultaneously familiar and foreign, that are born from computer code yet appear organic, and that appear heavy while weighing little.

I must create to survive. The ideas, born from lived experience, persist in my mind until they are irresistible. Increasingly, I feel despair listening to the news and seeing the injustice around me. My artwork becomes an outlet for literal and figurative reflection on this experience.

My art is discourse. I do not create solely as a means of self-expression. Rather, I create work that embodies alternate perspectives to ease viewers and participants away from their own lenses and towards seeing diverse topics in a new light. My goal is to spark self-reflection and to begin the difficult work of examining one’s own viewpoint. I examine gun violence in the United States, drone strikes abroad, and the success of American Capitalism using techniques founded in interaction design and critical making. I implement artistic methods to make tangible the hybrid relationship between technology, society, and culture. Through these intersections I examine how cultural constructs propagate ideologies, power relations, and social biases. I hope my artwork brings people together to address the difficult problems we face as a society.

For every artwork I make I plant one tree in partnership with the US Forest Service, regardless of whether the project uses wood or not. I do this to support animal habitats, replenish domestic trees, make our air a little cleaner, and ensure there will be wood for artists in the future. Through this effort I have planted over 150 trees!

BIOGRAPHY - 350 words

Mosher Headshot

Boston native Matthew Mosher is an intermedia artist, research professor, and Fulbright Scholar who creates embodied experiential systems. Their work explores the intersections of fine art, computer programming, and critical making resulting in immersive installations, interactive sculptures, post-participatory data visualizations, and dynamic performances. Mosher applies creative conduits between digital technology and material forms to highlight our complex relationships with machines and each other. Their projects have engaged themes of meditation, gun violence, digital isolation, and tangible memory. Doing so empowers participants in their work to see the world from a new perspective while reexamine their role in society.

Mosher is currently an Associate Professor of Games and Interactive Media at the University of central Florida. Their pedagogy centers on the use of interaction design as a medium for critical inquiry and cultural innovation. They teaches a range of course from large undergraduate foundational lectures to small graduate studio seminars covering design topics of user interface, user experience, experimental multimedia systems, and physical computing, as well as the history and theory of New Media. To serve the larger arts community they sits on the College Arts Association professional practice committee, writing standards and guidelines used around the world. They also cofounded the Phoenix, Arizona based [nueBOX] performance arts residency program in 2014, which has provided studio space to over 75 artists.

Mosher received their BFA in Furniture Design from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2006 and their MFA in Intermedia from Arizona State University in 2012. In their more than 15 years working as an intermedia artist Mosher has exhibited at numerous international venues for contemporary art, including the International Symposium for Electronic Art, Electronic Literature Organization, Wharton Esherick Museum, Buffalo Creek Art Center, Mozarteum KunstWerk, and Argekultur Salzburg. Their research is published in the Association for Computing Machinery Computer-Human Interaction, Tangible Embodied Interaction, and New Interfaces for Musical Expression conference proceedings, and reviewed in Wired and Interactions magazines. In 2010 the Phoenix New Times included him as one of the top 100 creatives to watch, and in 2019 they completed a Fulbright Scholar Fellowship in Austria on preserving memories in physical mementos.

BIOGRAPHY - 215 words

Matthew Mosher is an intermedia artist, research professor, and Fulbright Scholar who creates embodied experiential systems. Their work explores the intersections of fine art, computer programming, and critical making resulting in immersive installations, interactive sculptures, post-participatory data visualizations, and dynamic performances. Their projects have engaged themes of meditation, gun violence, digital isolation, and tangible memory. Mosher creates conduits between digital technology and material forms to highlight our complex relationships with machines and each other. Doing so empowers participants in their work to see the world from a new perspective while reexamining their role in society.

Mosher is currently an Associate Professor of Games and Interactive Media at the University of Central Florida. They received their BFA in Furniture Design from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2006 and their MFA in Intermedia from Arizona State University in 2012. Mosher has exhibited at numerous international venues for contemporary art, including the International Symposium for Electronic Art, Electronic Literature Organization, Wharton Esherick Museum, Buffalo Creek Art Center, Mozarteum KunstWerk, and Argekultur Salzburg. Their research is published in the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Computer-Human Interaction (CHI), Tangible Embodied Interaction (TEI), Creativity and Cognition (CC), Designing Interactive Systems (DIS), and New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) conference proceedings. Mosher maintains studios in Central Florida and Cape Cod.

BIOGRAPHY - 125 words

Boston native Matthew Mosher is an intermedia artist, associate professor, and Fulbright Scholar who creates embodied experiential systems. Their work explores the intersections of fine art, computer programming, and critical making resulting in immersive installations, interactive sculptures, post-participatory data visualizations, and dynamic performances. Their projects have engaged themes of meditation, gun violence, digital isolation, and tangible memory. Mosher creates conduits between digital technology and material forms to highlight our complex relationships with machines and each other. Doing so empowers participants in their work to see the world from a new perspective while reexamining their role in society. They received their BFA in Furniture Design from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2006 and their MFA in Intermedia from Arizona State University in 2012.

But how did I get here?

My background is in Furniture, Jewelry, and Performance Design. These forms are inherently interactive due to their intimacy with the human body. Towards the end of my undergraduate studies, I started experimenting with computational media to add a conversational responsiveness to my work. I have been blending coding with physical forms ever since.

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Matthew Mosher. 2022. Khong Khro: Visual biofeedback for focus meditations. In Creativity and Cognition (C&C '22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 570–574.

Marius Schebella, Gertrud Fischbacher, and Matthew Mosher. 2020. Silver: A Wire Mesh Textile Interface for the Interactive Sound Installation Idiosynkrasia. In Proceedings of the Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME ’20). NIME, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 131-132.

Cameron Tolentino and Matthew Mosher. 2020. Kurios: A Web App for Saving and Sharing Audio Memories with Physical Objects. In Proceedings of ACM Hypertext Conference (HT’20). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 2 pages.

Matthew Mosher. 2020. Pythia Consulting: Asking Difficult Questions While on Hold. In Proceedings of the Conference on Computation, Communication, Aesthetics, and X (xCoAx ’20). xCoAx, Gratz, Austria, 358-360.

Matthew Mosher, Danielle Wood, and Tony Obr. 2018. Tributaries of Our Distant Palpability. In Proceedings of the Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME ’18). NIME, Blacksburg, VA, 360-361.

Matthew Mosher. 2017. If These Walls Could Speak: Tangible Memories. In Proceedings of the 12th International Audio Mostly Conference on Augmented and Participatory Sound and Music Experiences (AM '17). ACM, New York, NY, USA, Article 13, 4 pages.

Matthew Mosher. 2016. What We Have Lost/What We Have Gained: Embodied Interfaces for Live Performance and Art Exhibitions. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '16). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 289-292.

Matthew Mosher and David Tinapple. 2016. What We Have Lost / What We Have Gained: Tangible Interactions Between Physical and Digital Bodies. In Proceedings of the TEI '16: Tenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI '16). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 658-662.

Mike Krzyzaniak et all. 2014. Separation: Short Range Repulsion. In Proceedings of the Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME ’14). NIME, London, UK, 303-306.

SELECTED PRESS

Christina Steinböck. 2021. Schmiede Radio Kunst und Dichtung. RadioFabrik (15 September 2021).

Thomas Fuchs. 2021. Hallein ist wieder reif für die Ynsel. Meinbezirk (10 September 2021).

Clemens Panagal. 2021. Kabarettfestival Motzart: Bitte warten, bis sich das Orakel meldet. Salzberger Nachrichten (28 January 2021).

Grace Newton. 2021. Platform Art Working with Builders to Add Public Art. lkldnow (22 April 2021).

Julia Tilford. 2020. The Healing Nature of Art. Orlando Arts Magazine (July/August 2020), p.8-9.

Clemens Panagal. 2020. “Bitte Warten” Wird Zum Dauerzustand. Salzberger Nachrichten (11 March 2020), p. 8.

Jeanette Lenoir. 2017. Using Art To Challenge Gun Violence In America. ePluribus: America (7 June 2017).

Beth Carter. 2012. Table Fighting Is Exactly What It Sounds Like: Tables, Fighting. Wired Magazine (30 May 2012).

Lenni Rosenblum. 2012. Tempe has a Musical Meditative Space Rover. Phoenix New Times (14 February 2012).