Matthew Riley

Dr Matthew Riley is a Senior Lecturer and researcher in the Master of Animation, Games and Interactivity program at RMIT University. His work and scholarship in playful and experimental design and art practice has been recognised internationally through exhibitions, events and conferences in London, France, Japan, Austria, New Zealand, Portugal, Hong Kong, New York, United Arab Emirates and Finland. 

Riley examines agency, affect and abstraction of complex systems, worlds and environments, often in relation to ecologies and experiences of place. He explores this through an array of methods and materials; both digital and otherwise, developing prototypes and drawings to exhibited commissioned works for galleries, events and public spaces. These works often connect digital, physical, social and material elements together as installations, mixed realities, interactive environments, public art and urban play projects.

Riley’s practice involve extensive interdisciplinary, professional and public engagement with cultural institutions, local government, communities, industry bodies, practitioners and researchers. With Uyen Nguyen and Max Piantoni he is a co-founder of the experimental collective YomeciPlay, serving as a creative producer in the conceptualisation, development and design of gallery-based and urban play projects. These works - outdoor street games, digital soundtoys, installations and playable art machines have been commissioned for national and international venues, organisations and events including Playable City Melbourne, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Experimenta Life Forms and Bunjil Place and shared in public symposiums and conferences including DiGRA (Kyoto, 2019), EVA Conference (London, 2020), Audio Mostly (Austria, 2022), Play and Place (Melbourne, 2022) and ISEA Everywhen (Brisbane, 2024).

A central leader in the Master of Animation, Games and Interactivity (MAGI), Riley contributes creative research expertise to MAGI’s studio-based program. He has established new collaborative partnerships that have connected institutional study to studio networks, industry partners and professional bodies, resulting in wider disciplinary, industry and public impact of student practice outside of academia. Riley has been invited to share his approach to creative practice pedagogies in conferences and symposiums including ISEA (Hong Kong) Kajaani University of Applied Sciences (Finland) and Kerr-boo-on-ool: A DSC Reconciliation and Belonging Event at RMIT University.

His research and professional practice have been the recipient of awards, commissions and grants from organisations including Creative Victoria, Yarra Ranges Council, RMIT University, Swinburne University, Playable City, ACMI and Bunjil Place.

Riley’s background is in design and contemporary art, working as a designer within a team of studio assistants, artisans, technologists and fabricators at the Melbourne-based studio Drome with renowned artists Patricia Piccininii and Peter Hennessey. Working with cultural, educational and arts organisations including the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, The University of Melbourne, Creative Victoria, Chunky Move and Friends of the Earth, Riley’s design work has featured in HOW Magazine (New York), IdN Magazine (Hong Kong) and Architectural Review Asia Pacific (Melbourne) among others.

He is a member of the RMIT Future Play Lab led by Dr Troy Innocent, who work with local government and industry partners connecting speculative design, creative placemaking, extended realities and urban play to explore new ways of being in the world.

Riley is also a member of the Academic Board of The MIECAT Institute who offer experiential, arts based programs for those working in community health, therapy, education and research.