Matthew Rowe is a philosopher whose primary interests are in aesthetics, the philosophy of art and relationship between artistic practice and art theory. He is currently primarily a writer, although he also engages in solo and collaborative visual art practices when appropriate. His current writing research focuses on site specificity within artistic production and issues surrounding morality and photography. Future writing projects include an essay on John Waters and an analysis of irony and sincerity. Current artistic projects are predominantly concentrated on contributing to other author’s works in the form of documentation and archiving. He takes an object-centred approach to his work, so any future projects will depend on how the idea that strikes him is best expressed: Whatever gets made will get made within the mode of cultural production suited to that concept – whether it is art, philosophy, fiction, comedy or politics, will be decided as the project progresses.
In this film recorded on Zoom, Matthew speaks to Tom Groves, Head of Art Histories, about the kinds of ideas he explores with students on the MA in Art & Material Histories. He also provides some really useful advice about how we can use philosophy as a kind of tool kit to dig down under the surface of everyday thinking to reveal how our understanding of the material world is shaped by the histories of thought.