Postdigital Cultural Icon | Ryota Matsumoto - ArtMaze Mag August 2017
                     
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R Y O T A  M A T S U M O T O
R∠ yoto Matsumoto’s work reflects the morphological transformations of our ever-evolving urban and
ecological milieus that are attributed to a multitude of spatio-temporal phenomena influenced by social,
economic and cultural factors. They are created as visual commentaries on speculative changes in notions of
socities, cultures and ecosystems in the transient nature of constantly shifting topography and geology. 
The artworks explore the hybrid technique combining both traditional media  and digital media. 
The drawing process involves base images that are composed by parametric and algorithmic design
techniques.
Then they are merged with traditional media such as acrylic, ink, graphite, and photo collages. These are
further processed and looped through a series of arithmetic and stochastic operations by algorithmic
processing programs and their custom plugins. 
The varying scale, juxtaposition of biomorphic forms, intertwined textures, oblique projections and visual
metamorphoses are employed as the multi-layered drawing methodologies to question and investigate the
ubiquitous nature of urban meta-morphology, the eco-political reality of the Anthropocene epoch and their
visual representation in the context of non-Euclidean configuration. Furthermore, the application of these
techniques allow the work to transcend the boundaries between analog and digital media as well as between
two- and multi-dimensional domains. 
His compositional techniques imbue the work with what we see as the very essence of our socio-cultural
environments beyond the conventional protocols of architectural and artistic formalities, and that they
conjure up the synthetic possibilities within which the spatial and temporal variations of existing spatial
semiotics emerge as the potential products of alchemical procedures.
Ryota Matsumoto is a principal and founder of an award-winning interdisciplinary design office, Ryota
Matsumoto Studio. He is an artist, designer and urban planner. Born in Tokyo, he was raised in Hong Kong
and Japan. 
He received a Master of Architecture degree from University of Pennsylvania in 2007 after his studies at
Architectural Association in London and Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow School of Art in early
90’s. Matsumoto has previously collaborated with a cofounder of the Metabolist Movement, Kisho Kurokawa,
Arata Isozaki, MIT Media Lab and Nihon Sekkei Inc. before establishing his office.  He currently serves as an
advisor of Transart Institute in Berlin and New York. 
His art and design work are featured in numerous publications and exhibitions worldwide.
Find out more about the artist:  www.ryotamatsumoto.com (http://www.ryotamatsumoto.com/)
C O L L A G E  ( H T T P : / / A R T M A Z E M A G . C O M / T A G / C O L L A G E / )
M I X E D  M E D I A  ( H T T P : / / A R T M A Z E M A G . C O M / T A G / M I X E D - M E D I A / )
P A I N T I N G  ( H T T P : / / A R T M A Z E M A G . C O M / T A G / P A I N T I N G / )
P H O T O G R A P H Y  ( H T T P : / / A R T M A Z E M A G . C O M / T A G / P H O T O G R A P H Y / )