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Matthew Prebeg: I am a multidisciplinary artist, designer, and researcher. I also go by Matt(y). Some might go so far as to say that I am a creative technologist, but I’m still figuring out what exactly that means. There’s this old saying, “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” (1) This can mean something positive or negative, depending on who you ask. See, my dilemma is that I like gathering moss, but I also like rolling. I have moved around a lot, currently residing in Toronto, ON. My practice dynamically weaves disciplines and constantly changes, depending on my current interests or the direction the wind is blowing. I am a lifelong learner. You can think of me as a rolling stone in a moss garden.

Currently, my art practice explores the interplay between digital technology, traditional media and culture. My professional practice is centred on designing services and translating knowledge in healthcare. These, too, are bound to change. I am open to chatting and collaborating—you can contact me at hi@mattprebeg.com.

My CV is available here.

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Say hi on Instagram, Are.na, TikTok, LinkedIn, or Chess.com.

Artwork




 "If computer memory is like anything, it is like erasable writing; but, if a penciled word can be erased because graphite is soft, a computer's memory can be rewritten because its surface constantly fades." (Hui Kyong Chun, 2008)
Digital decay refers to the gradual obsolescence and degradation of digital data. It could have many culprits; outdated formats, hardware failure, data corruption, cyber threats. Wendy Hui Kyong Chun distinguishes between memory and storage in The Enduring Ephemeral, or the Future Is a Memory, highlighting how all of our data requires constant regeneration-it's erasable, it's forgettable, and it's most definitely not permanent.

So what happens when hyperlinks die? when Internet archives are fragmented versions of events? What happens when we forget?

Video here.



Where did all the microsites go?

As a kid, I used to love exploring the Internet. It felt like a game of “what is the most bizarre, interesting, funny website that I can find?”

With the rise of social media and recommendation algorithms, and the death of web hosting services like Geocities, the Internet changed. I think many of us are sensing this “sameness” of the the current web, as more folks are drawn to websites like Are.na. I wonder what place folk programming has in the next era of the Internet.

Visit the Community Garden here: communitygarden.neocities.org/



A volvelle, or wheel chart, is a type of slide chart considered an early example of an analog computer. They exist for a variety of subjects, from astronomy and medicine to bird calls and fortune-telling.

When I was first introduced to Are.na, Good Sign Offs was one of the first boards I contributed to. I was enamoured by this collaborative and algorithm-free platform for collecting and organizing hyper-niche ideas. It felt like all my years of tracking mundane (and perhaps useless) information in spreadsheets and notes apps have prepared me for this moment.

An ode to hyper curation. Video here.



They say you can hear the ocean in a seashell. That was the first thing my Baka said when she handed me this conch from Podgora, Croatia. When I visited Podgora a few years ago, I heard the ocean. I heard the crashing of waves against the pebble beach.

While “seashell resonance” may be a folk myth, I hold onto this idea, well into adulthood, that a seashell connects me to the same waves my grandmother swam in as a child.

I ran a Python script to convert a .WAV audio file of the crashing waves on the beach in Podgora to binary code. I painted each zero and one on the inside of the conch until there was no space left.Whether or not you, too, can hear the ocean in a seashell, I think there’s value in holding onto these experiences even when they shift form.They say you can hear the ocean in a seashell. That was the first thing my Baka said when she handed me this conch from Podgora, Croatia. When I visited Podgora a few years ago, I heard the ocean. I heard the crashing of waves against the pebble beach.While “seashell resonance” may be a folk myth, I hold onto this idea, well into adulthood, that a seashell connects me to the same waves my grandmother swam in as a child.I ran a Python script to convert a .WAV audio file of the crashing waves on the beach in Podgora to binary code. I painted each zero and one on the inside of the conch until there was no space left.

Whether or not you, too, can hear the ocean in a seashell, I think there’s value in holding onto these experiences even when they shift form.

Videos here.



Hieroglyphic (from the Greek word for “sacred carving”) refers to a system of writing consisting of pictoral characters as symbols for objects and sounds. Originally, "hieroglyphic" referred exclusively to Egyptian monument writing. However, since the late 19th century, the term has been extended to encompass the writing systems of other cultures, provided they utilize pictorial symbols as writing characters.



Service Design & Knowledge Translation




Making sure that youth have access to the right services, in the right place, at the right time, is critical to supporting their mental health and substance use. That’s why Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario has over 30 Networks that offer high-quality, evidence-based, and integrated services to youth across the province.

One ingredient to achieve better health outcomes for youth is something called measurement-based care, or MBC, which is the use of measurement tools like surveys and questionnaires to guide treatment decisions.
MBC actually has a lot of benefits, like increasing shared decision-making between youth and their service providers. There’s just one problem: MBC isn’t being routinely implemented. Service providers have a lot on their plate already, and sometimes it’s challenging to ask them for more.

But when we did an environmental scan of youth who access services in Ontario, they want MBC. They believe in its value, but just need opportunities to be more involved in the process (“It’s like I just fill out the questionnaire, and poof, I never hear about it again”). 
That’s why we worked with a team of youth lived experts to co-design the MBC Pocket Guide to improve MBC delivery for youth across Ontario. Read more here.



Adolescent depression is prevalent, but treatment can be difficult to navigate and ineffective. A multi-disciplinary team of researchers at the Cundill Centre for Child and Youth Depression developed the CARIBOU Pathway to address the need for scalable and evidence-based treatment for adolescent depression. Read more on the CARIBOU Pathway here.

To ensure the Pathway reflects the needs and interests of youth, I supported the team in designing mechanisms for youth engagement. This included: (1) developing a youth engagement strategy, (2) organizing and facilitating a youth advisory group, (3) co-designing educational material with young people*, (4) liaising communications across various stakeholder groups.

Since development, the Cundill Centre has launched a certificate program in delivering the pathway and is implementing the pathway in multiple community-based centres around Ontario.

*See psychoeducation material here.




In response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) funded the development of an international and multi-institute database of living healthcare recommendations related to COVID-19—the RecMap. In order to ensure the RecMap could be scaled and utilized by the general public, I worked closely with a team of researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children to co-design a plain language recommendation (PLR) format for each recommendation.

I supported the team in (1) designing a mechanism for engaging community members, (2) facilitated community consultations, (3) designed PLR format prototype, and (4) liaised communications between community members, researchers and web developers.

The COVID-19 RecMap PLR database is live here.
This website is updated every so often. Last updated on 14 November 2024. All contents are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. Thanks for visiting :)