TASMAN RICHARDSON
"While Plato argued for the triumph of the rational over the sensorial, Richardson appears more interested in rehabilitating the latter."
Madeline Bogoch, Peripheral Review
"...akin to a journey through the heart of the materialist ego where the rigorous staging of space diversifies perspectives on the self and the media as portents of an apocalypse..."
Dominique Sirois-Rouleau, Esse
"...Richardson pushes past the surface, and shows us darkness at its heart."
Murray Whyte, Toronto Star
"His investigation of images tests the limits of our cultural and perceptual boundaries, which he breaks apart and reconfigures with disturbing precision."
David Jager, NOW magazine
"Eschewing simulated realities, and narrative or figurative content, Richardson's pioneering of the Jawa style took video sampling to an extreme."
Christopher McKinnon, Luma Quarterly
"...an intense, ambitious artist at the top of his game."
Richard Rhodes, Canadian Art
Tasman Richardson is a cultural composite creating cultural composites—a multidisciplinary media artist based in Tkaronto whose practice spans video art, immersive installations, and live audio-visual performances. Since pioneering his audio/visual cut-up method "Jawa" in 1996, Richardson has explored the boundaries between technology, perception, and meaning. Co-founder of FAMEFAME media arts collective (2002) and creator of international A/V tournament Videodrome, he established himself as an innovative force in media arts.
Richardson's work critically examines "contemporary necromancy" – our relationship with recordings and media – exploring "voluntary surveillance states" and video as "a soul without a body." His practice draws from Dadaism and Situationism, influenced by Nam June Paik, Guy Debord, and Brion Gysin.
After graduating with honours from OCAD's Integrated Media Program (1997), his trajectory expanded to large-scale installations including "Necropolis" (MOCCA, 2012) and "Kali Yuga" (Arsenal Contemporary, 2019). Recent VR explorations like "The Harvest" (2024) continue investigating how we see through technological surrogates. His collected observations spanning over two decades of media art experimentation are published by Impulse(b) as autobiographical anecdotes in "Objects In Mirror," launched internationally in Toronto, Berlin, and Izmir in 2023. Richardson's work is held by the National Gallery of Canada.
2025 CV of selected exhibitions
Objects In Mirror published by Impulse(b)