Memo Akten

Memo Akten (born 1975) is a Turkish-born multidisciplinary artist, computer scientist and researcher.^[1] His work explores human machine entanglements through speculative simulations and data dramatizations, often engaging with themes of ecology, technology, spirituality, and collective intelligence.^[1] He serves as Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Diego.^[2]

Memo Akten
Born	1975 (age 49–50) Istanbul, Turkey
Citizenship	Turkish
Alma mater	Boğaziçi University (BSc), Goldsmiths, University of London (PhD)
Occupation(s)	Multidisciplinary artist, Computer scientist & Researcher
Website	www.memo.tv

Early life and education

Born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1975, Akten holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul.^[3] Later in 2021 he completed a PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London in Artificial Intelligence, in which he developed what he calls “Deep Visual Instruments”: interactive systems that use deep neural networks as a creative medium, while ensuring real-time, continuous, and meaningful human control.^[4]

Career

Akten’s practice spans a wide variety of media, including moving images, sound, poetry, dance, light, performance, and installations.^[5] In 2011, he co-founded the art-technology studio Marshmallow Laser Feast where he worked as creative and technical director.^[6] He left the studio in 2014 to focus on his PhD and his personal research.^[4] Akten’s technical and artistic leadership spans early works involving interactive real-time projection mapping, light and laser control, as well as later works that engage deeply with deep neural networks and Artificial Intelligence.^[7]

In the field of academics, Akten is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Diego.^[2] He has presented research at major conferences, including NeurIPS and SIGGRAPH, connecting his artistic practice to scientific inquiry.^[4] In 2024, he co-founded Superradiance Lab with Katie Hofstadter, establishing an interdisciplinary research space that explores consciousness, intelligence, and planetary systems through embodied experience and emerging technologies.^[8]

Akten’s work has been exhibited at venues such as the Venice Biennale, Barbican, Grand Palais, Mori Art Museum, Tretyakov Gallery, and others.^[9][10] His works are held in collections including Borusan Contemporary, the Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation and the Vanhaerents Art Collection.^[4][11]

Akten has collaborated with notable figures and brands including U2, Depeche Mode, Lenny Kravitz, Richard Dawkins, Google, Apple, Twitter, and Sony.^[12] He has served as a mentor and jury member for international conferences and awards, including Ars Electronica, SIGGRAPH, and Google Arts & Culture.^[12]

Awards and honors

• 2013 - Won the Prix Ars Electronica Golden Nica for his collaborative work Forms^[13]
• 2024 - Tribeca Immersive Official Selection, Tribeca Film Festival (Embodied Simulation)^[14]