Matt Allen
Digital / Immersive Artist / Creative Technologist
Digital / Immersive Artist / Creative Technologist
Matt makes digital and interactive artworks for galleries, festivals and public spaces. His practice explores chronic illness, dreams and immersive environments, often using Unity to create accessible experiences that can exist both in physical spaces and online.
Matt is currently the creative technologist for Bradford 2025, Uk City of Culture.
Anxiety Arcade was originally commissioned for Compass Festival 2021 by Compass Live Art using public funds from Arts Council England and Leeds City Council. Additional support from the Foyle Foundation.
After being premiered at Compass Festival (2021) the artwork was also shown at Leeds Digital Festival (2022), Exiter Art Week 2022 and 2023.
Anxiety Arcade is a full-sized arcade machine exploring themes of anxiety and isolation. A love letter to 80s pop culture and classic video games, Anxiety Arcade is a digital space that allows you to reset and take a break from everything in your world.
Developed with the support of FACT Gallery and presented as part of Art Plays Games exhibition in 2025 as part of DaDa Festival.
The exhibition was developed using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
It is based on the lived experiences of those with energy-limiting conditions and explores chronic illness, fatigue, isolation, and depression.
It's Not You, It's M.E. is an interactive point-and-click game based on the artist’s experiences of living with Long COVID and M.E. It is a game you can't win, full of mini-games that often are impossible to complete.
Audiences experience a fictionalised version of the artist's life in an energy simulator game world. Attempting to keep on top of your workload, as well as doing household chores and trying to find time for personal hobbies, is a delicate balance. All whilst being careful not to push limits too far. Experiences of living with a disability vary greatly, but It's Not You, It's M.E. makes explicit some of the daily challenges that having an energy-limiting condition can bring.