Michael Thompson

Michael Thompson is a Research Fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London. He completed his PhD in 2023 and served as Associate Chair for the Provocations and Work-in-Progress track at the DIS 2024 conference, demonstrating active engagement in the design research community.

Thompson earned his Doctor of Philosophy from Goldsmiths, University of London in 2023. His doctoral research examined interdisciplinary participatory events centered on constructing a "Fatberg" (an island of fat) to investigate human-material relations through the lens of vibrant matter theory.

His research spans Design, Art, and Material Studies, with core focus on participatory methodologies that treat materials as active collaborators. Thompson integrates Huizinga's play theory, Kaprow's happenings, and Beuys's expanded art concepts to develop frameworks for unpredictable human-material engagements. His work critically examines how substances like fat generate synthetic agency within creative events, challenging anthropocentric design paradigms through experimental practices that embrace contingency and material unpredictability.

Thompson's primary scholarly output is his doctoral thesis, which establishes a holistic model of participation accounting for material agency. The research synthesizes art, design, philosophy, and literature to create empirical methodologies for navigating vibrant matter in creative contexts, revealing how playful frameworks enable transformative socio-material encounters.

He maintains active academic service through conference leadership roles and can be contacted at mthom019@gold.ac.uk.