Dr Matthew Harkness
PhD - University of New South Wales
Master of Design - Emily Carr University of Art and Design
Bachelor of Fine Arts - The University of British Columbia Okanagan
Matt is an early-career designer, researcher, and academic based in Sydney, Australia. He focuses on non-traditional research outcomes and specialises in object design from a Circular Economy, critical making, speculative, co-design, and more-than-human perspective. Matt’s research draws on these to interrogate the ethics of making, specifically, wasteful, exclusive, and exploitative DIY and maker practices. Through material experiments, his practice-based research includes waste plastic and bioplastic materials, ceramics, electronics, and repurposed objects. Matt has taught design courses at universities in Australia and Canada and exhibited design works nationally and internationally. He has shown work at the Australian Design Centre, the National Gallery of Victoria, Interiors Australia | Denfair, and Dubai Design Week.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
- Finalist, Australia’s Next Top Designer - Interiors Australia | Denfair, 2022
- Winner, HDR Research Output Award - UNSW, 2022
- Winner, Sustainable Design Award - WORKSHOPPED21, 2021
- Highly Commended, Northern Beaches Environmental Art & Design Prize - Northern Beaches Council, 2021
- Winner, HDR Research Output Award - UNSW, 2021
- Highly Commended, Reimagine Art Prize, Hornsby Shire Council, 2021
- Winner, Dean’s List Award - UBCO, 2012
Member of UNSW Art and Design - DesignforCE (https://www.instagram.com/design_for.ce/)
Member of The Circular Economy Research Network Asia Pacific (CERN APac) -
Member of Québec Circular Economy Research Network (RRECQ) - https://rrecq.ca/en/the-network/about-us/
My Teaching
Postgraduate Courses
- Hybrid Crafting (ADAD9211)
- Material Thinking (ADAD9212)
- Research Foundations in Art & Design (ADAD9114)
- Furniture & Lighting Design (SDES9747)
- Critical Approaches to Design (SDES9210)
- Participatory Design for Commercial Contexts (SDES9305)
Undergraduate Courses
- Design Honours Studio Research Project (DDES4102)
- Object 3 (DDES2121)
- Design Collaboration Studio 3 (FADA3030)
- Design Collaboration Studio 1 (FADA1010)
- Design Studio 6 (DDES3101)
- Design Studio 5 (DDES3100)
- Design Studio 2 (DDES1101)
- Art & Design for Environmental Challenges (ADAD2610)