Matt McCormick is a

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

based video installation artist and filmmaker. His work extends documentary and experimental filmmaking, focusing on the sublime decay of contemporary culture and the landscape both urban and rural. McCormick is an artist and filmmaker who works in both the art and independent film worlds. He has had three films screen at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

, has had work exhibited at

Art Basel Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair staged annually in Basel, Switzerland; Miami Beach; Hong Kong and from 2022, Paris. Art Basel works in collaboration with the host city's local institutions to help ...

Moscow Biennale The Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art is one of the most important Russian cultural events and was founded in 2003. First Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art The First Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (January 28 – February 28, 2005) ca ...

, and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, and his film ''

The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal ''The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal'' (USA, 2001, 16 min) is an experimental documentary directed by filmmaker Matt McCormick,Iain Aitch,The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal, The Guardian, 14 May 2004. Accessed 11 November 2017 based on ...

'' was named in ‘Top 10 film lists of 2002’ in both ''Art Forum Magazine'' and ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

.'' He has also directed music videos for

The Shins The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...

Broken Bells Broken Bells is an American indie rock band composed of artist-producer Brian Burton (better known as Danger Mouse) and James Mercer, the lead vocalist and guitarist for the indie rock band The Shins. Broken Bells compose and create as a duo, ...

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's current lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member J ...

, and

Yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

, while also collaborating on projects with artists such as

Miranda July Miranda July (born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger; February 15, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, singer, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art. She w ...

, James Mercer,

Patton Oswalt Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...

, and

Calvin Johnson Calvin Johnson Jr., (born September 29, 1985) is an American former football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons with the Detroit Lions. He played college football at Georgia Tech, where he twice ...

Career

McCormick's work spans mediums and defies genre distinctions to fashion witty, abstract observations of contemporary culture and the urban landscape. His project ''Future So Bright'' maps and catalogs abandoned spaces in the American West, while ''American Nutria'' "examines the plight of an imported species while chastising capitalism’s tendency to create its own disasters." ''The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal'' makes the observation that the process of destroying one art form unwittingly creates another, while his installation piece ''Ride a Wave To Tomorrow’s Sunset'' reflects on society's need for ‘synthetic meditation’. A collection of McCormick's music and sound recordings titled ''Very Stereo'' was released in 2007 by Marriage Records. McCormick is also the founder of the video distribution label Peripheral Produce and the

Portland Documentary and Experimental Film Festival The Portland Documentary and eXperimental Film Festival, or PDX Fest, is a five-day event that showcases non-narrative film and video from Portland, Oregon, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the ...

. In 2008 McCormick began production on his first feature-length project called '' Some Days Are Better Than Others'', starring James Mercer and

Carrie Brownstein Carrie Rachel Brownstein (born September 27, 1974) is an American musician, actress, writer, director, and comedian. She first came to prominence as a member of the band Excuse 17 before forming the rock trio Sleater-Kinney. During a long hiatus ...

. The Film premiered at the 2010

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

film and music festival in Austin, Texas. McCormick's short film, ''The Deepest Hole'', will screen at Sundance Film Festival in January, 2020.

Works

Feature films

*'' Some Days Are Better Than Others'' (2010)Internet Movie DataBase
/ref> *''The Great Northwest'' (2012) *''Buzz One Four'' (2017)

Short films

*''Sincerely, Joe P. Bear'' (1999) *''The Vyrotonin Decision'' (1999) *''

'' (2001) *''American Nutria'' (2003) *''Towlines'' (2004) *''The Problem with Machines that Communicate'' (2007) *''Light Tiger Eye'' (2008) *''Future So Bright'' (2009) *''The Deepest Hole'' (2019)

Installation

*Future So Bright (2007) *Satellites (2008)

Music videos

/ "The Past and Pending" (Sub Pop Records, 2002) *

/ "Jumpers" (Sub Pop Records, 2005) *

/ "See a Penny" (Marriage Records, 2007) *Arthur and Yu / "Afterglow" (Hardly Art, 2007) *The Shins / "Australia" (Sub Pop Records, 2007) *

Eluvium In geology, eluvium or eluvial deposits are those geological deposits and soils that are derived by ''in situ'' weathering or weathering plus gravitational movement or accumulation. The process of removal of materials from geological or soil horiz ...

/ "The Motion Makes Me Last" (Temporary Residence, 2010)

Screenings and exhibitions

Besides numerous film festivals like Sundance and the New York Underground Film Festival McCormick has shown in international art venues like The 2007

, The Oslo Museum of Modern Art, The Serpentine Gallery, Uncertain States Of America, Baja to Vancouver and Art Basel Miami Beach (2007).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCormick, Matt Artists from Portland, Oregon Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Filmmakers from Portland, Oregon