Matthew Jarvis

My work is about sharing, being open and the tensions of acting collaboratively with others;

I've recently been working on a project called Lost Angels - a social game based on the google Android platform.

The premise is that Utopia is dying and to save it we need to learn to trust each other again. We can do this be engaging with 'Angels' which appear to us on our mobile phones. This is because there is no longer enough energy left in Utopia to allow the Gods to make Angels appear in a solid form. Hence they went digital, and are on a quest to save us from ourselves. The project uses your personal interests and pitches them against the world news in real time.. if you begin to trust others then your Angel grows stringer while if you ignore it or are selfish with information you Angel gets moody, angry and eventually fades away because you will not play with others. This is being designed in Google Android, the operating system for the next generation of mobile phones which are due to be released in the last quarter of this year. We have a prototype, however it only runs in the Android emulator. I just did a Qik video so you can see it: qik.com/video/315712

Another recent work is called Team Untangle.

This is an interactive pervasive game where users are encouraged to solve a problem together by walking onto a big projected playing field on the floor where there are large dots joined together by delicate thin lines. The aim of the game is to move around the field and drag the dots to positions where none of the lines overlap each other. When the lines are untangled you have created harmony and won the game. This can be done with a number of people playing together, or even on your own by jumping in and out of the field. The time in which the puzzle was solved, and by how many players, are projected onto the wall by the playing field. The work creatively asks the question "Is it better to work alone or with others?" in an immersive and engaging way. This work was finished in July this year and exhibited with V2 at the old photo museum during the summer and an updated version is going to be exhibited at NEMO on friday 26th September in the evening as part of Discovery08.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXUyfVJA5D0

I am currently thinking about a work about to do with 'the future'. Recent challenges about how we need to open up access to technology while keeping control of personal and possibly dangerous information are at the forefront of my brain! I believe open source is the best way forward and am trying to the social challenges we face in order to allow sharing of information to feel comfortable, breaking down the old business ideals, based on fear and ownership. Playing with the ideas that giving things away brings more into everyone's experience of life.

I have been working in the arts for 8 years as both artist and technician then recently decided to do my Masters in Leiden which is enriching and offers more time to contemplate these ideas. The course is a cross between art and science and we started the year with a visit to Ars Electronica, which was my 3rd visit as I consider it to be one of the highlights of my year!

I have made a few video works over the years- mostly for the gallery I used to work for in Sheffield.. my CV is on my website..

Currently looking for sponsorship and partnership with my projects and further ideas!

Matt