Michael Clapp is an artist and architect whose research leverages modes of representation to speculate on the evolving relationship between what he refers to as the “toolness of technology” and our spatial environments. His work attempts to excavate and expose the ‘contemporary condition’ through provocative narrative in design. He believes that experience today oscillates between the vapid plane of the interface and deeper spatial understandings. Investigations are situated along a spectrum ranging from two-dimensional imagery to time-based projective overlays to architectural installations in order to interrogate topics beyond dimension. His interest in how technical awareness affects traditional modes of communication through design aid in situating his often layered productions.

Clapp seeks to challenge the traditional dichotomy between metric analysis and ephemeral understanding and how it has been supplanted by questions of representation amid the evolution of technical acuity. With core interests in cartography and territory, the idea of mapping has evolved in his work to question surficial relationships. Digital augmentation often accompanies analogue means of production to foreground the schism between the two. He contends that while our technological ‘prostheses’ - as Baudrillard would refer to them - have not yet blended into a seamlessly integrated reality with the physical spaces around us, architecture is a realm that is uniquely positioned to explore this ongoing relationship.

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