Mads Hobye (1980), PhD, is an associate professor at Roskilde University (DK) within the Department of People and Technology. He researches interactive digital materiality as a hybrid between physical material and digital technology. It is research in the potential of aesthetic use of technology and how to democratise technology ownership through frameworks, open knowledge-sharing and digital fabrication as a maker mindset. The work has been published internationally and applied in practice through co-founding illutron (a collaborative, interactive art collective in CPH) and as artworks presented at international museums, galleries, and festivals.
His interest is the relationship between physical digital technology and human beings. Through computational logic, sensors, and expressions, the technology resonates with participants, both in their relation to the work itself and just as much in the interpersonal experiences among themselves - in the situated context.
In 2004, he co-founded Illutron, which resides on a large-scale industrial barge in Copenhagen Harbor. Its purpose is to hold space for artists to work with technology, biology, and scrap materials in an artistic manner free from larger capitalist justifications. The collective is run as a non-profit organization governed by its active members.
Follow on @madshobye & email at mads@hobye.dk
Exhibitions / Performances
2023, Roskilde Light Festival, DK, Orb Probe
2022, Piksel, No, MemoryMechanics **
2022, Nordic forum for Dance Research, DK, MemoryMechanics **
2022, Emideks, RUC, DK, Moving Stories, Embodied Empathy
2022, S12 Gallery, NO, Sensing presence (Solo Exhibition)
2021: Haut - Works in progress, DK, MemoryMechanics **
2021: Nova Festival, RO, MemoryMechanics **
2021: Click AI Days, DK, MemoryMechanics **
2021: Easter Ex., KP21-digital, DK, Perception is participation
2020: Ars Electronica, Online, MemoryMechanics **
2020: Musicon, DK, Inner Glow *
2020: Catch, DK, Embodied Companion
2020: Musicon, DK, Embryo *
2020: Click festival, DK, Memory Mechanics **
2019: Borderland, DK, The Orb Probe*
2018: Roskilde Light Festival, DK, Embryo*
2018: The Danish National Gallery, DK, The singing plant *
2018: Ebeltoft Glass Museum, DK, Dynamic transparencies ***
2018: CPH stage, DK, Mediated pulse in Punchline
2017: Finland Glass museum, FI, Dynamic transparencies ***
2017: Mod,Strøm, DK, Life Nerve
2017: The Glass Factory, SE, Dynamic transparencies ***
2017: Borderland, DK, Geometric masculinity
2017: Borderland, DK, Spatial projections *
2017: Royal Danish Theatre, DK; CPH stage Mediated Pulse
2016: Skanderborg, DK, Dream Forest *
2016: Borderland, DK, Spatial projections *
2015: Critical IXD, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Zagreb, Croatia, Aural Fixations
2015: Borderland, DK, Calling Home
2015: Roskilde Festival, DK, Color entrance *
2014: Technical Museum, DK, Humanizing robots *
2013: Royal Danish Theatre, DK, In case of emotions
2012: CHI interactive, DK, The Touchbox
2012: Odense Main Street, DK, Hydraphonia *
2011: Wired Mind, DK, Reversed Megaphone
2011: Emerge And See conference, DE, The Mediated Body
2011: Click Festival, DK, Reversed Megaphone
2010: Burning Man, US, Syzygryd and Mediated Bodysuit *
2010: Roskilde Festival, DK, Electrolumen *
2009: CPH:DOX, DK, Barcode Beats *
2009: Kunsthallen Brandts, DK, N7331227 *
2008: Inkunst Malmø, SE, Ladies and mens room mixup *
2008: Roskilde Festival, DK, Explosion Village *
2008: Ørestaden, DK, CPHAdd, 8-bit Traffic *
2008: Robots at Play, DK, Singing plant
2007: Botanical Garden, DK, Singing plant *
2007: Charlottenborg Spring Ex., DK, The Machines are having fun *
2007: Roskilde Festival, DK, Medusae Nilfisk *
2005: Tingbæk Kalkminer, DK, Singing plant
2005: Half Machine, DK, Clouds in passing
2004: Half Machine, DK, Singing plant
2004: Roskilde Festival, DK, Singing Plant
* Projects made in collaboration with and/or members of illutron
** Exhibitions made as a part of MemoryMechanics
*** Exhibitions made as a part of Dynamic Transparencies
Touching a stranger: Designing for engaging experience in embodied interaction
Hobye M. & Löwgren J. (2011), International Journal of Design 5, 3.
Designing for homo explorens
Hobye, M (2014). PhD Dissertation, Malmø University.
Playing with Fire: Collaborating through Digital Sketching in a Creative Community
Making Futures: Marginal Notes on Innovation, Design, and Democracy, Edited by: Ehn P., Nilsson, M. E. and Topgaard R., MIT Press, (November 2014).
Creating synergies between traditional crafts and Fablab Making
Padfield N., Hobye M., Haldrup M., Ranten M., Knight J., (2018), Fablearn EU.
Behavioral complexity as a computational material strategy
Hobye M. & Ranten M. (2019) International Journal of Design 13, 2: 39–53.
The bizarre bazaar: FabLabs as hybrid hubs
Haldrup M., Hobye M., & Padfield P. (2017) CoDesign 14, 4: 1–16.
Other engagements, collaborations, repositories etc.
Art-based residencies / workshops
2022: S12 Gallery, Bergen, NO
2018: Glass Museum Ebeltoft, DK
2017: The Glass Factory, Boda, Sweden
2012: Instructables, San Francisco, USA
Co-founder/-organizer of
2022->: Digital Transformation (Digital Design): master at RUC: co-founder
2021->: Grasp Festival: Program director for RUC contrib.
2020->: Roskilde Festival Innovation Project with RUC
2011->: Copenhagen Scandal Central: co-founder
2007->: illutron: co-founder
2003-2007: Capteco A/S: co-founder
1998-2003: Inventit: founder
Online repositories
Multiple online repositories of documentation have been done through the years. The following are places to look to find sources codes, videos etc.:
Instagram: Instagram is the best place to follow me and my work
RUC Profile: My formal research profile at Roskilde University
Scholar: Google scholar gives the best current overview of publications
learn.hobye.dk: My learn site is where I organize and share examples of digital fabrication and prototyping for students. Loads of readymade code snippets and p5js sketches can be found there
FablabRuc: The Fablab RUC website is filled with projects and experiments done by/with me
illutron: Most large-scale installations presented here have been done as a part of illutron
Instructables: During my artists in residency at Instructables, I made multiple detailed guides around sound art
Vimeo: Many video documentations of installations can be found on Vimeo
Github/Hobye: My online git repository with different projects
Github/illutron: illutrons online git repository
