Andy Mattern

Photographer, Andy Mattern, appreciates walking, asserting that by slowing down the process of interacting with the world one has the opportunity to give attention to the unusual and mundane details of the world around us. Inspired by the Minimalist and Conceptualist movements of the 1960’s, Mattern also draws motivation from the new environments he explores. One series born out of this natural curiosity is Driven Snow (2011), in which Mattern depicts chunks of snow and ice suspended from the ceiling against a white background and printed in a 1:1 ratio. By removing them from their original context, Mattern transforms these vehicle-impeding ice structures into what he refers to as ‘automatic sculptures,’ and symbols of man’s lack of control in the wake of nature or the inevitable shift, change and deterioration of the world around us.

Control is a central theme of Mattern’s photographic practice stating that, ‘we as humans have a perpetual desire to control our environments, make things accommodate us but we’re ultimately not in control. And things are always falling apart – literally.” Through his photography, Mattern’s seeks to observe the insistent pull of man’s need for control or our bodies and our environment in conflict with the inevitable push towards dissolution and entropy.