Adam Lehrer: Malcolm Gladwell recently said that there are two different kinds of artists: conceptual artists find their voice almost immediately and do their best work early in their lives, and experimental artists have to try over and over until they get the sense of what it is they are trying to do. Which applies more to you?

Todd Murphy: B, for sure. And now I’m starting to experiment more than ever with mechanical things, so I’ve started building machines.

Adam Lehrer: Are you exploring how tech and nature work together?

Todd Murphy: And how they’re merging. I’m not a mechanical engineer, but I’m very curious. To create naively is interesting. Mechanics are magic to me. I maintain curiosity. It keeps life interesting.