The solo exhibitions ‘Face Yourself’ (2008) and ‘Garden Ruin’ (2009) present Bob Matthews’ artworks in response to his broad research into the historical and inventive approaches to ecology and nurture, sociological debate and art production in the context of living communes. The London exhibition presented artworks related directly to research into Northern European communes while the exhibition in San Francisco combined ideas drawn from settlements in the US. Together both exhibitions reflected research into four independent communes; The Center for Experimental Culture Design (ZEGG), near Berlin, ‘Black Bear Ranch’, California, ‘Okötop’, Düsseldorf and Freetown Christiania, Denmark. Matthews’ research methods included extended visits to these sites, working directly with the communities and their archives.

The project draws from Matthews’ larger research interests into the model of the utopian commune, emergent mainly in the United States and Northern Europe during the 1960’s and their current form and status. By exhibiting work over two exhibition sites, Matthews established a link between geographically diverse communities, generating a series of artwork that examines the outcomes and artifacts constructed within self-contained utopian communities.