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At Astaire we love art and design, so when the opportunity presented itself to chat with London-based designer, digital artist and film-maker Keiichi Matsuda about his Prism piece we didn’t hesitate.

QMany designers/filmmakers we know like to dress comfortable. However, Mr. Porter and company had you in many bespoke outfits, is this how you dress on daily basis? Which outfit was your favorite? And must we say, in a couple of the photos — from a distance — you could be mistaken for Neo from The Matrix.

AThere are times when I’m deep into a project and I forget almost everything else, but I try to make myself presentable most of the time. The Mr. Porter shoot was something else though! The stylists did a great job, I particularly liked the beautiful Oliver Spencer jacket. There was also a great 70′s science fiction / Logan’s Run kind of look, but it didn’t make the final cut. I’m definitely getting more aspirational with my wardrobe, but can’t spend too much as I’m saving up to go into space.

QWhile we’re on fashion. Are you watch wearer or do you check the time on your smartphone? If you’re a watch wearer, what are you wearing?

AI haven’t had a watch for years, but as objects, I like them a lot. My work is completely future-facing, but I’m more drawn to classic watch designs, with a simple face hiding all of the incredible mechanical complexity.

QCurrently, you’re working on a project commissioned by Veuve Clicquot called Prism, which will be on display at The London Design Festival. Many of us won’t have the opportunity to hop over the pond and witness it in person. From the picture, can you take us through it and what we should be looking for?

APrism had a great hugely successful extended run at the V&A museum in London. It was an enormous sculptural paper lantern, displaying visualisations of live data feeds drawn from all over the city. Each of the panels represented a different data source; we had weather data like wind speed and solar radiation, environmental data, transport data, and even live energy usage data from many buildings in the capital. Viewed together, it showed us a different side of London, made from computer networks and exchanges rather than the bricks and mortar we usually think of. The installation is now closed, but lives on at http://veuveclicquotprism.com, where you can see the live visualisations and get more information about the data sources. Veuve Clicquot were fantastic to work with, and displayed a genuine commitment and passion for innovation. I’ve made a film in their amazing cellars which should be out soon. While you’re waiting for that, I recommend the 2004 vintage rosé.

QOne of your past project, The Augmented City 3D is quite fascinating. It’s between Google’s Project Glass and Microsoft’s Kinect. With these two-pieces of technology and possibly others on the horizon, do you see the “Augmented City” becoming a reality in say 5 years?

AThere are a lot of things pointing to the world that “Augmented City” depicts, but I wasn’t trying to predict the future. I think its important that we step back from the hype surrounding media and technology and try to see how the technologies we adopt today can change the type of world we will be living in tomorrow. The idea was to make a new vision for people to discuss, and find their own idea of what the future should be like. Technology should be helping us, and improving our quality of life, but so often that isn’t the case. As I see it, speculation, proposition, criticism and discussion are the best tools we have to influence the future city.

QAfter the Prism project, what can we expect to see from Keiichi Matsuda in the near future?

AIn addition to the Veuve Clicquot film, there are a few really exciting projects in the works. Nothing I can reveal yet, but if you’d like to stay updated on my work you can follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter.

Photo by Mr. Porter

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