Conversation with Matthew Cohn
What interests you in collaborative work?
I originally come from a theater background, where collaboration is the default, and I’ve always enjoyed the way that a theater piece is greater than the sum of its parts. (When it works, anyway.) An actor is constantly responding, in real-time, to other people: to the other actors on stage, certainly, but also to the audience, and to the designers in the way he walks on the set or wears the clothes provided. The artwork—the play—is a product of that constant dialogue. In a broader sense, collaboration is an opportunity to make something that I never would have been able to make on my own, because the work is born out the interaction between myself and another artist. Furthermore, my interest in collaboration now is inseparable from the reality of the pandemic, when we have all been so incredibly isolated.
How would you describe your process of collaboration?
My preference is to begin by simply responding to another person’s work, and avoid too much planning ahead of time. It’s like a game of catch: I make something and send it to the other artist, who responds to what I’ve made, and sends their response back. I in turn make something with what they’ve sent me, and the process continues. In this way, the project or piece reveals itself organically, and grows out of our artists’ dialogue.
How would you describe your work?
I make interactive visual art, and I think most of the work I make has a theatrical sensibility. By that I mean that I try to actively engage the audience by creating conditions where their participation is a necessary condition for the artwork to exist. The form that each piece takes depends on the idea—right now I’m working on something that resembles a board game, and a story is revealed in the playing.
Have your material choices changed over the years?
Yes! I like to think I choose the material to suit the idea I’m trying to express, and that’s led me all over. That being said, I do tend to stick to things that can be reproduced fairly easily—various forms of printmaking and photography,
recorded music, and printed text. I do try to keep things analog, because being at a computer feels like the bad kind of work for me, and I just don’t derive any pleasure from it. I like to hold things in my hands.
How has Covid-19 affected you?
When the pandemic hit, I was actually at my family’s place upstate for a little vacation, and then just kind of…stayed. So I formalized my darkroom up there, and focused on my printing skills. I found the whole experience pretty annihilating at first, and wasn’t feeling particularly creative, so I worked on my technical skills. But it’s been quite difficult, frankly. As I mention, I come from a theater background, and that whole world has been shut down, and will be for the foreseeable future. But as I said, I’ve had the time to focus on some technical skills, and that’s been a silver lining.
Where Is The Mind When The Body Is Here?, Production Photo, Dimensions (of box): 22.5" x 13" x 12", Year: 2019, Media: Pine, bass wood, glue, forged nails, shellac. Also, lithographs, woodcuts, and linocuts on paper.
BIO: Matthew Cohn is a New York-based interdisciplinary artist. Drawing on his background in theater, he makes interactive visual art, combining music, printmaking, photography, and text. He is also an award-winning audiobook narrator. www.matthewcohn.com