30: The Most Famous Artist, the Art Collective Behind the Monolith, with Matty Mo

In the internet age, the idea of reinvention and our lives' seasons have become more prevalent and accepted. Our episode today explores and exemplifies these ideas along with many others, as we talk to artist Matty Mo, also known as The Most Famous Artist.

We hear from Matty about his wild journey through business and the art world, as he talks about his days in startups, how he effectively lost everything and then turned his failures into lessons and eventual success. Matty starts by unpacking memories of his childhood and the values that he feels he absorbed from his parents at an early age. 

From there, we progress into his college years, wrestling pursuits, and Matty's entry into the wide world of tech and startup entrepreneurship. It was during this period that Matty suffered a major setback, after a video of him stumbling around drunk and naked went viral, he lost the funding for the exciting project he was working on and forced him to go back to square one. It was then that he began a mission of learning, starting with the lesson about viral content that he had just learned! 

Through some reflection of soul-searching, Matty started exploring the idea of art and how he could turn the current era and its ideals on its head to create a message. Matty talks about the stunts he has pulled in order to boost his reach and visibility, and how this approach has evolved and continues to grow into the community-oriented project that The Most Famous Artist is today! 

This is a story that has it all, excellence, setbacks, determination, and ultimately the ongoing quest, so make sure to listen in with us today for this amazing conversation!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Matty's childhood interest in building model rockets. 
• The messages about sacrifice that Matty imbibed during his childhood.
• Shifting role models through the years; leaders in fields of interest for Matty.
• The mythical and fictitious story that Matty tells about his childhood.
• How Matty got into wrestling out of a dislike for running!
• Attending Stanford — Matty's attachment to this idea of success and achievement.
• Interning at a wake-boarding magazine and working up into more and more prominent roles.
• Hacking the reach of video content and how this led to a great internship. 
• How this work in video led to co-founding Sharethrough! 
• Making waves in advertising in New York and a taste of living the good life.  
• A turning point and public humiliation that Matty experienced on the eve of a big acquisition. 
• The launch of The Most Famous Artist in 2014 — and the ideas behinds it.
• Artists that influenced Matty's vision for The Most Famous Artist. 
• Understanding how to manipulate the media and create headlines in the art world! 
• The projects of Matty's that did not turn out in the way he had hoped. 
• The power of building in public as an artist or business owner. 
• Matty's respect and appreciation for his community and audience. 
• The process around devising and creating the art that Matty has become known for. 
• Matty's criteria for projects and the work he has undertaken during 2020.
• The death of the Most Famous Artist as it existed before the pandemic.
• Books that have made a big impact on Matty's journey!
• Matty's views and belief around success and self-care at this point in his life.
• Advice for young artists from Matty! Patience, process, and lifestyle. 
• Reflections on Matty's journey since childhood and the themes that have run through his work. 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

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