Matthew Mark Roberts - In Pursuit of the Impossible

matt roberts

Welcome to my website. This space is dedicated to my two passions in life - Art and High Jumping. Whilst this is an unusual combination I'm sure that the following information will enlighten.

art

I am in pursuit of the impossible. This has resulted in a preoccupation with physicality and the environment we occupy. And thus I am constantly striving to create a spectacle. Without a doubt this drive comes from my other career, that of high jumping, of which I am international standard. I remember at a young age seeing high jump on television and being in awe. I think that great art is no different. I want to disrupt the connection between the eyes and the brain. Is seeing really believing? This is a question that we are used to asking everyday as we are visually bombarded by the media. Digital manipulation of images is standard and films seamlessly blur CGI with the real. It is within this climate, this culture, that I create the absolute genuine article, seeing is believing.

Banal objects are intuitively balanced, and briefly become more than their original function. These works are a bridge within my practice. They connect clinical perspective photographs to performance work in which the objects are replaced with my own body. An underlying aspiration to defy gravity means that success or failure is possible. This is a pursuit not without an element of absurdity as eventually failure is inevitable. This is something that I am determined to battle against, because the impossible is what nobody can do, until somebody does. I aim to be that somebody.

high jump

I have jumped the highest ever in the UK not to represent my country. This is something that I am very proud of! My personal best is 2.26m, 7 foot 5 inches. I set this in 2010 making myself number 12 on the UK all time list. Having lost 2011 to serious injury I am training hard to gain the last 2cm to Olympic qualification. This is made easier by sponsors and the fact that I live just 5 minutes from the Alexander stadium where I train. Please check out my sponsors links below and if you are interested in helping me on my journey to London 2012 please get in touch.