Since February 2014, Matthew has been working on ‘The Bad Vibes Club’, a six-month programme of talks, and a reading group about negative ethics. Visiting lecturers have included: writer and theorist Mark Fisher on the trajectory of anti-vitalism in contemporary critical theory; and Daniel Oliver of the efficacy of awkwardness in contemporary participatory art and performance; and Robin Mackay, who lectured during Open School East’s residency at CAST in Helston, Cornwall, on accelerationism as political heresy.

You can listen to the Bad Vibes audio archive here.

His collaborative performance ‘You’re Here, I’m Here, Let’s Discourse’ (2014) with Daniel Oliver, was performed at Open School East’s Open Studios in May 2014, and featured an audience-centric interactive experience involving crisps, fan heaters, and an over enthusiastic performer-facilitator. The piece extends Matt’s research into ‘bad vibes’, enacting a wilfully reductive critique of participatory performance, encouraging negative or ambivalent affects of awkwardness, discomfort, and embarrassment.