Matt Hope
Matt Hope | |
|---|---|
 Beijing, 2008 | |
| Born | 1976 |
| Website | www.matthope.org |
Matt Hope (born 1976, Hammersmith, London) is a British artist who lives and works in Caochangdi, an arts district in Beijing, China. He is known for elaborate kinetic art and sound art constructions made in large-scale fabrication factories in Mainland China.
Biography
Matt Hope grew up in London. He studied at Chelsea School of Art, London in 1994–96. Hope received his BFA at the Winchester School of Art, Hampshire, U.K. in 1999, and earned his MFA at University of California, San Diego in 2004.
He is represented by ACE Gallery, Los Angeles.
Work
Hope's work uses industrial objects often designed to his specifications and fabricated in Chinese factories that he works with on an interpersonal level. Common materials include speakers systems, solar panels, vehicles and shipping containers, all of which Hope combines into electromechanical sculptures that invite environmental input and flirt with the human scale .[1]
Recent work includes "Spectrum Divide", a solo show at Saamlung Gallery,[2][3] "Sonic Furnace" featured in the Get It Louder Biennial, Shanghai in 2010,[4] "People's Power Station" at the Chengdu Biennale in 2011[5][6] and "Laoban Soundsystem: Infinite Baffle" at a cargo container storage bay in Hong Kong.[7]
Previous work includes Horn Massive and Microscopic Perfect Cube (2005).[8]
Breath
"Breath" is bike built by Hope that combines various found objects, including an electromechanical filtration system, that filters air while pedalling. Although technically operable, it is more of an artistic and theoretical response,[9] rather than practical solution, to Beijing's pollution problem.[10][11][12] "Breath" was exhibited in 2012 at Get It Louder, a contemporary art biennial in China. It is regularly mentioned in International news in connection with China's Pollution Crisis.[13]
References
- ^ "Matt Hope: Making Things Work".
- ^ Matt Hope (solo show), Saamlung Gallery
- ^ Vernissage: Matt Hope, Randian Online
- ^ "Get It Louder, Shanghai 2010".
- ^ "Chengdu Biennale 2011".
- ^ "The Solutions International Design Exhibition of the 2011 Chengdu Biennale".
- ^ "Laoban Soundsystem".
- ^ "Microscopic Perfect Cube".
- ^ "Laowai Not: Breathing Bike". China Daily. 13 March 2013.
- ^ "Pedal-Powered Purifier Clears the Air in China". Bloomberg Television. 4 February 2013.
- ^ "More Next-Level IKEA Hacking: Matt Hope's Air-Filtering Beijing Bicycle". core77. 31 January 2013.
- ^ "Beijing Bike-Sculpture Filters the City's Pollution". Hyperallergic. 31 January 2013.
- ^ "Pollution in China: Precious art from toxic waste". BBC. 31 January 2013.