Pamela (Reed) and Matthew (Rader) are the two lively minds behind the latest installation in our gallery. Taking their bubbly, fun aesthetic and rewinding it back about 65 million years or so, they’ve transformed our space into a dino-packed jungle. Albeit one filled with video-games, GIFs and dubstep. In their own words, “it’s a journey into prehistoric times with our dinosaur friends”. But why dinosaurs? “I guess if you could step back and look at all the species that have lived on this planet, there’s two cool ones: humans and dinosaurs. Everything else? Not so much.”

The couple met ten years ago at the Pittsburgh Art Institute, “we lived in the same building, went to the same school, and both had blue hair”. A partnership was established and, perhaps, because they both came from a “purely ‘no-art’ background’” they’ve taken a very ‘figuring-it-out-as-they-go’ approach to breaking into the art world. And figured it out they have; with serious industry attention paid to their dynamic portfolio of eye-catching pieces; ranging from stylish, fashion GIFs for the likes of Dazed and Confused, Pop and V, to colourful cartoon worlds created for Nintendo. “People are always excited about the ‘new’, and I think that’s something we really push and strive for.” And although they utilise a lot of early noughties internet imagery, everything feels fresh, alive and most importantly, relevant.

People are always excited about the ‘new’, and I think that’s something we really push and strive for. Staying true to their internet roots, they share their New York studio, from where the couple work and live, with four cats, "they're constantly craving attention. We know they're trying to help but it can be incredibly stressful." Their studio very much follows the aesthetic of their work, "if you walk in, it's a bit of an over-the-top-kooky-lots-of-faces-smiling-at-you type thing". This doesn't come as a huge surprise. Positivity and playfulness seems present in all their work, not just self-commissioned projects, but also the pieces they've done with big brands. "Brands always want to be cool, they want to know they're doing 'the next thing'." And, with their affinity with the web, the source of anything and everything 'new' these days, Reed + Rader have been able to do just that. They are, however, very aware that this they're not alone in mining the artistic potential of the internet. So how do they set themselves apart? "We're one of those that have an understanding of that type of aesthetic, of our generation's market, and we're into stuff like that. We can be a bridge to the future from their[brands] older kind of branding."

The freedom of the digital format and its potential is a thought that is at the forefront of their ideas. "We've grown up with Nintendo and video games and all this stuff, and we want to live in those worlds." This exploration of videogame realities can be found in many of their past projects. From fashion shoots set in Mario's Mushroom Kingdom to the Donkey Kong-esque jungle environment they installed in Protein's 18 Hewett Street gallery space, the colourful, distinctive aesthetic of 90's platformers permeates all their work.
Perhaps one day they can take the immersion experience one step further. "Instead of just looking at these dinosaur worlds on screen, we want to jump into them and run around a little bit." This isn't as far fetched an idea as it may seem. They're not short on technologies they'd be keen to use, to get them a step closer to making that dream a reality, they list "3D depth cameras, augmented reality, holograms." on their t-do list. However, one idea seems to take centre stage, "Interactivity's the big one." They recognise the limitations of their traditional GIF format, "Sure, you can't show moving images in a print magazine, but even on screen it's just moving stuff that's a passive medium. So interactivity is kind of the next thing we're experimenting with." The appeal, it seems, is to blur the line between artist and viewer, "The next step is for the user to no longer just looks at our work. Now we want them to become the art director and control what we do. That's the most exciting thing for us."

Primarily the couple have made a name for themselves as respected purveyors of low-tech visuals with a focus on internet culture, both in their work itself and how their work is presented. “We identified the web as a platform to do something a little bit different.” With an emphasis on merging mediums, “of bringing in the tactile with the digital”, they confess that they don’t really think that they “classify what [they] do as one thing”. Their work has involved images, videos, costumes, sculpture and music all imbued with Reed + Rader’s unmistakeable sense of playful, imaginative creativity.
http://www.reedandrader.com