Matthew Mazzotta (born March 28, 1977) is an American social practice artist. Mazzotta grew up in Canton, New York, and works internationally. Mazzotta is a 2018 Loeb fellow at Harvard University and a 2019 Guggenheim fellow.

Matthew Mazzotta
Born (1977-03-28) March 28, 1977 (age 47)
Canton, New York, US
NationalityAmerican
EducationSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago; Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Known forSocial Practice Art
AwardsDezeen Awards - “Architecture Project of the Year 2018”
Websitewww.matthewmazzotta.com

Education

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Mazzotta received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a Master of Science in Visual Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Program in Art, Culture, and Technology.[1][2] He was a recipient of 2017-18 Loeb Fellowship at Harvard Graduate School of Design[3] and was a 2019-20 Guggenheim Fellow.[4][5]

Projects

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Project Park Spark

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Project Park Spark (2012) is a dog waste powered streetlight installed in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It features a miniature methane digester which feeds methane into an old fashioned gas streetlight.[6][7]

Cloud House

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Cloud House (2016) is an art installation consisting of a house-like structure built from recycled wood and tin. Inside, it contains two rocking chairs, while a large cloud shaped sculpture is suspended over roof of the structure.[8] When visitors sit in the rocking chairs, they activate the cloud and water falls from the cloud onto the tin roof, creating the soothing sounds of rain on a tin roof.[9][10][11]

Storefront Theater

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The Storefront Theater (2016) is an art installation and community center in Lyons, Nebraska. It re-conceptualizes the facade of an abandoned building to fold down into a theater that seats 80, transforming the town's main street into an outdoor theater.[12] Before Mazzotta acquired the property, it was an empty lot with a street fronting facade.[13]

Steeped in Exploration

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Steeped in Exploration (2010) - “A Teahouse without Tea!” – is a socially engaged art project aimed at creating space for dialogues around exploring the “local”, science, public involvement, ecological issues, community building, artists’ sensibilities, bringing criticality to space, and dissecting the systems that make up our “everyday” life.[citation needed]

HOME

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HOME (known as Phoebe the Flamingo) (2022) is a public work of art located at the Central Terminal of Tampa International Airport. It depicts a hyperrealistic flamingo with its head and feet submerged, as if wading through water. The exaggerated scale of the flamingos in HOME puts the "lives of these birds in the focus, and puts us, as humans, in awe as they tower above us, reminding us that we all share the same home."[14]

Awards

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2018

"Architecture Project of the year" - Dezeen Awards at Tate Modern[15]

Architizer A+ Award in the category of "Architecture + Community"

Harpo Foundation Grant for Visual Artists

2017

World Architecture News WAN Awards in the category of Adaptive Reuse[16]

American Architecture Award in the category Museums and Cultural Buildings [17]

Congress for the New Urbanism – Charter Award[18]

World Architecture Community – 20+10+X Award

CODA Awards Merit Award for Public Space – Cloud House

References

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  1. ^ "Matthew Mazotta". MIT ACT.
  2. ^ Smith, Heather (18 December 2015). "The wacky, messy tale of the man who just wanted to make a dog poop lamp". grist.org. Grist. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  3. ^ Matthew Mazzotta. Loeb Fellow 2018. Harvard Graduate School of Design. Accessed August 24, 2019
  4. ^ "MATTHEW MAZZOTTA". www.gf.org. Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  5. ^ "GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION NAMES 2019 FELLOWS". www.artforum.com. Art Forum. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  6. ^ Solon, Olivia. "DOG POOP POWERS PARK LIGHTS". Wired. Wired.com. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  7. ^ Boyle, Rebecca (11 September 2010). "Dog Poo Powers a Streetlight In Massachusetts Park". www.popsci.com. Popular Science. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  8. ^ Eldredge, Barbara (31 March 2017). "This "Cloud House" is a temple to the rain cycle". www.curbed.com. Curbed. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  9. ^ Williams, Adam (30 March 2017). "Cloud-topped shelter makes it rain to help visitors relax". newatlas.com. New Atlas. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  10. ^ Testado, Justine. "Make it rain as you sit on rocking chairs inside the Cloud House". archinect.com. Archinect.
  11. ^ Hitti, Natashah (11 December 2017). "Dezeen's top 10 installations of 2017". www.dezeen.com. Dezeen. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  12. ^ Brocius, Ariana (16 February 2016). "In Lyons, Nebraska, A Big Art Project Revives A Small-Town Tradition". www.kcur.org. KCUR. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  13. ^ Jordahn, Sebastian (7 May 2019). "The Storefront Theater is successful because "the community takes it and makes it their own"". www.dezeen.com. Dezeen. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  14. ^ "HOME - TAMPA — Matthew Mazzotta". Matthew Mazzotta. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  15. ^ "The Storefront Theater by Matthew Mazzotta wins Architecture Project of the Year at Dezeen Awards". Dezeen.com. November 27, 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  16. ^ WAN Adaptive Reuse Award 2017 Winner Announced, World Architecture News, February 28, 2018. Accessed August 24, 2019
  17. ^ Santos, Sabrina (2017-04-18). "2017 American Architecture Award Winners Announced". ArchDaily. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
  18. ^ CNU Announces 2017 Charter Awards, Congress for the New Urbanism, May 27, 2017. Accessed August 24, 2019
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