Surya
Mattu
Artist, Engineer, and JournalistBrooklyn, NY
2020 USA Fellow
This award was generously supported by The Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation.
_
Surya Mattu is a Brooklyn-based investigative journalist, artist, and engineer who looks at the ways in which algorithmic systems perpetuate systemic biases and inequities in society. Currently Mattu works as an investigative data journalist at The Markup. Previously, he was a contributing researcher at ProPublica, where he worked on Machine Bias, a series that aims to highlight how algorithmic systems can be biased and discriminate against people. Machine Bias was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Explanatory Journalism. Mattu has also worked at Gizmodo’s Special Projects Desk and been a visiting scholar at the MIT Media Lab. Mattu has shown work at The Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Museum of Art & Design, The Whitney Museum, V&A Museum, and Bitforms Gallery.
Portrait photo by Tanya Phattiyakul.
Last Seen, 2016. Software. Presented as part of Laura Poitras' exhibition ASTRONOISE. Whitney Museum Of American Art. Photo by Luisa Pereir.
More&More, 2017. Website, Swimsuits and Postcards. Here are Dragons group exhibition at Maison Pop, Montreuil, France. Photo courtesy of Maison Pop.
From The Dark, 2015. Framed print; collection of Wi-Fi networks stored in the memory of a smart phone captured as the phone attempted to connect to Wi-Fi in a public space. New York City, NY. Photo by Luisa Pereira.
UnfitBits, 2015. Website, video, animated GIFs in collaboration with Tega Brain. Brooklyn, NY. Photo courtesy of the artist.
FromTheDark, 2015. Digital media; a rendering of the Wi-Fi data we leak through our smart devices. New York City, NY. Photo courtesy of the artist.