Cultivating curiosity in creative coding with Matthew Ragan
From Creating New Spaces: Interviews with artists redefining spaces through technology by Robin Petterd
September 26, 2025 · 31 min · Episode 27
About this episode
Matthew Ragan discusses the importance of curiosity over technical skill in creative coding.
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)…
People in this episode
Host: Robin Petterd
Guest: Matthew Ragan
Topics covered
- creative coding
- curiosity
- technology collaboration
- sustainable creativity
- slow coding
Keywords
- creative technologist
- TouchDesigner
- coding
- collaboration
- performance
- curiosity
- sustainable outcomes
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: SudoMagic
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