About

Mutable Matter is an interactive project about our relationship with matter. The project is part of my PhD research at the Open University, which arose out of a long-term interest in the different ways people link to their environment, which I have been exploring both as a geographer and as an artist.

Why is a geographer looking at matter?

Geographers have been involved in a number of public debates around controversial new technologies such as nanotechnology, genetic engineering or nuclear power. A problem such technologies pose is that they are often undetectable with our normal senses. Hence the potential dangers associated with them are often called ‘invisible risks’.

In these debates, some of us have found that some of the tensions between ‘experts’ and ‘publics’ arise, because the world is divided into the ‘everyday’ world accessible to our senses, and the ’scientific’ space of ‘matter’. While scientists can comment on both spaces, publics are discouraged from accessing the ‘difficult, esoteric’ workings of ‘matter’.

In this project, I am looking at interactive art practice, and how it could be used to bridge the two spaces with its emphasis on sensory engagement. The example I use is nanotechnology. Although the project sessions have now finished, the blog is being continued as a form of research journal, resource and communication platform for anyone interested in the topic.

Lastly, I think I have to put a disclaimer here, that this blog reflects my own views and not that of my university.

I hope you enjoy reading and/or commenting on Mutable Matter!

Angela