Cultivating curiosity in creative coding with Matthew Ragan

Creating New Spaces: Interviews with artists redefining spaces through technology

In this podcast you will learn why curiosity matters more than technical skill.

In this interview, Matthew Ragan explores coding as a practice of sculpting and rehearsal, showing how collaboration with technology leads to more fluid and sustainable creative outcomes.Matthew Ragan is a California-based creative technologist, educator, and co-founder of SudoMagic. He has an MFA in interdisciplinary digital media and performance. His TouchDesigner tutorials are used by creatives worldwide.

Listen to this podcast to learn about:

• Why curiosity and patience matter more than technical skill in creative coding

• What Matthew Ragan’s circus training revealed about working with technology as a collaborator rather than an obstacle.

• Why “slow coding” offers a sustainable counterbalance to the culture of instant results.

Chapters

(00:00:00) Introduction and host's acknowledgment

(00:00:48) Guest introduction: Matthew Ragan

(00:01:15) The importance of curiosity in creative coding

(00:02:31) Exploring noise algorithms and sculpting

(00:05:08) Lessons from circus performance to coding

(00:07:17) Balancing creative and commercial projects

(00:09:15) Matthew's journey into coding

(00:22:03) Choosing the right tools and languages

(00:24:03) Advice for newcomers and final thoughts

(00:30:55) Conclusion and call to action

About Matthew Ragan

Matthew Ragan is a California-based creative technologist, educator, and artist whose work bridges performance and technology. With a background in acting, dance, and circus arts, he brings embodied lessons of rehearsal and collaboration into his creative coding practice. He has shaped a generation of artists through his widely used TouchDesigner tutorials, and professionally he has led large-scale projects at Obscura Digital and the Madison Square Garden Company, including Art on theMart and the MSG Sphere. He is the co-founder of SudoMagic, a boutique software and design studio.

Links from the podcast with Matthew Ragan

• Visit Matthew Ragan’s website
• Explore Matthew Ragan’s teaching resources
• Visit SudoMagic, the studio he co-founded
• Follow Matthew Ragan on Instagram
• See Matthew Ragan’s GitHub projects
• Discover TouchDesigner, the platform central to his teaching and creative coding practice
• Learn more about Python, a core scripting language in his work
• Watch Matthew’s masterclass for Interactive & Immersive HQ: How to approach building a real project on YouTube