Evan Mather (born 25 February 1970) is an American landscape architect, urban designer, and filmmaker. He is primarily known for his work in the genre of web film[1][2][3][4][5] specifically the reconfiguration of personal histories[6] and exploration of memory landscapes.[7]
The most successful web-stream films, of course, are made with the format in mind. American film-maker Evan Mather's work, such as Icarus of Pittsburgh (2002), is a good example: densely packed with visual and aural information, his films seem made to be watched intently, in isolation and cocooned by headphones.[8]
Mather was born in New Orleans and spent his childhood in Baton Rouge. He is a second-cousin of A Confederacy of Dunces author John Kennedy Toole. In 1993 he received a degree in landscape architecture from Louisiana State University. In 1995 he started the online video site Hand Crafted Films as a forum to experiment with the self-distribution of short films via the Internet. He gained early notoriety[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] for his animated short films featuring Star Wars action figures. Most recently his films have focused on design and architectural issues, notably his 2009 documentary short film A Necessary Ruin about a geodesic dome ostensibly designed by Buckminster Fuller and its raison d'etre in Baton Rouge.[17][18][19][20][21] A 2011 advocacy film, A Plea For Modernism, attempted to save a historic modernist elementary school in New Orleans.[22][23][24][25][26] Mather's first feature film, From Sea To Shining Sea, was funded by Kickstarter[27] and premiered at the National Building Museum in 2014.[28] In 2017, Evan Mather was elevated to the ASLA Council of Fellows.[29] In Fall 2021, his documentary essay film Sanctum was awarded a Professional Communications Award of Honor from the ASLA.[30]