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Participants
Master of Architecture Candidate
Gabe Darley received a Bachelor of Arts in Design & Computer Science from Tulane University in 2022. He is pursuing a Master of Architecture at Yale. He is not currently in love, but has been before and hopes to be again soon.
Lauren Dubowski
Assistant Director, Center for Collaborative Arts and Media (CCAM)
Lauren Dubowski is an interdisciplinary creative producer. With the CCAM team, she collaborates on the curation, development, and implementation of the center’s programs and projects. Lauren was previously based in Poland, where she worked with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Kinhouse Studio, and the Łodź Film School vnLab, as well as Ado Ato Pictures (Netherlands/USA). Also a writer and translator, Lauren holds a DFA in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. She was a Fulbright fellow to Poland and a Luce Scholar in Indonesia.
Eric Fleischman
Momoyo Homma
Director, Reversible Destiny Foundation and Arakawa+Gins Tokyo office
Momoyo Homma is Director of the Reversible Destiny Foundation and Arakawa+Gins Tokyo Office (Coordinologist, Inc.). After working as an art coordinator, specializing Latin American and Caribbean art, Momoyo encountered Arakawa in 1999 and started working on "reversible destiny" projects. In 2002 she established the Arakawa+Gins Tokyo office with Madeline Gins and Arakawa, where she continues to work today. Among many projects and events, she was in charge of coordinating External Gene House (Nagoya, 2005), Reversible Deestiny Lofts Mitaka (In Memory of Helen Keller) (Tokyo, 2005), and Biotopological Scale-Juggling Escalator (New York, 2013), working closely with the Reversible Destiny Foundation in NY. Her passion is to continue to develop reversible destiny in the here and now, and through this work, pass on Arakawa and Gins' extraordinary artistic, architectural, scientific, and philosophical legacy to future generations.
Takashi Ikegami
Director, Takashi Ikegami Lab + Professor, University of Tokyo
Takashi Ikegami is a professor in the Department of General Systems Sciences at the University of Tokyo. His work bridges the arts and sciences, exploring complex systems and artificial life. He earned his doctorate in physics from the University of Tokyo. Artificial life seeks to construct potential life forms through computer simulations, chemical experiments, and autonomous robots. Recently, he has been focusing on a humanoid named ALTER to study the emergence of artificial minds and is also collaborating on real biological systems such as honeybees, ants, and tetrahymena to understand collective dynamics. Since 2005, he has ventured into the art world, contributing to works such as "Filmachine" (with Keiichiro Shibuya, YCAM, 2006), "Mind Time Machine" (YCAM, 2010), "Offloaded Agency" (Barbican, UK, 2019), "Shell of Time" (a dance performance in Naha with Un Yamada, 2022), and "Mind Time Machine II" (2023). His notable publications include "Life Emerges in Motion" (2007), "Between Man and Machine" (2016), and "Making and Playing with ALIFE" (O'Reilly Japan, 2018).
Konrad Kaczmarek
Associate Professor at the Yale University Department of Music
Konrad is on the faculty in the Department of Music at Yale University, where he teaches courses in composition, music technology, and instrument design. He is Co-Director of Yale College New Music, Associate Director of the YalMusT Music Technology Labs, and has a joint appointment as Lecturer in Sound Design at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. As a soloist, he has performed at the Sonorities Festival at Queens University in Belfast, The SoundBytes Festival in Halifax NS, Bargemusic, The Stone, Joyce SoHo, the 92nd Street Y, The Chelsea Art Museum, The Flea Theater, and at the Princeton Composers Ensemble. His compositions have been performed by an eclectic group of performers and ensembles including Cygnus, Crash Ensemble, Yarn/Wire, Dither, Janus, Psappha, PLOrk, Sideband, and the NOW Ensemble. He has been awarded residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, The Banff Centre in Canada, and STEIM in The Netherlands. His freelance programming and performing have taken him to The River to River Festival in lower Manhattan (2013), Kunstnernes Hus in Olso, Norway (2009), The New Zealand International Arts Festival (2008), The 2008 Whitney Biennial Performance Series, the Next Wave festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (2006), “Works and Process” at the Guggenheim (2006), and The Strings of Autumn Festival at the Estate Theater in Prague (2006). He holds degrees from Princeton University (Ph.D. in Music, 2015), University of London, Goldsmiths (M.Mus in Electroacoustic Composition, 2003), and Yale University (B.A. in Music, 2002). Prior to teaching at Yale, he held teaching positions at The New School University, The College of New Jersey, and Harvestworks Studio in New York.
Dana Karwas
CCAM Director, Critic, Yale School of Architecture
Dana Karwas is the Director of the Center for Collaborative Arts and Media (CCAM) at Yale and faculty at the Yale School of Architecture, teaching courses on mechanized perception and design for bodies in space. At CCAM, Dana curates all programming and directs the research activities at the center, leveraging her background in architecture and interdisciplinary arts to drive CCAM’s mission to activate creative research and practice to advance the cultural landscape of our time. Her vision for CCAM began in 2019 when she started as the Director and launched CCAM’s first publication, Maquette, an archive in motion celebrating the unique nature of the diverse range of projects and community in the interdisciplinary arts. In 2020, she initiated Ultra Space, a research initiative and course at CCAM that explores earthly reference frames for understanding the body in space, inspired by the work of Shūsaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins. She has initiated other collaborations at CCAM, including projects with Yale Schwarzman Center, Yale University Art Gallery, Yale Quantum Institute, the Wright Lab, and others. Dana works closely with the CCAM Advisory Committee, and the faculty and staff at Yale College and the professional schools to activate and extend curriculum. She provides mentorship to students, faculty, and staff across the university and is a member of the Schwarzman Center Faculty Advisory Committee, as well as a fellow at Branford College. Dana holds an MPS from Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Kansas. Her creative practice is centered around human reference frames, with a specific interest in the boundaries of sensory perception and rendering the invisible visible.
Designer
Vignesh Harikrishnan is a product designer and educator focusing on immersive technology. Vignesh situates his practice in the intersection of technology, architecture, and social impact. His research interests span user experience design, mental health support through digital platforms, and community engagement in urban settings. As a Product Designer, Vignesh is designing applications that aid recently incarcerated individuals and support mental health for Black women to develop immersive augmented reality apps for children and a behavioral central health app in Chicago. His contributions have been published in Archdaily, Architizer, Housing Redux, and Yale Retrospecta. Vignesh is also a visiting critic of NYIT, NCSU, UIUC, and Yale. His works have been exhibited in Chicago, New Haven, Jordan, and India. Vignesh holds a Master of Architecture from Yale University.
Verneda Lights
Irene Loughlin
Artist
Irene Loughlin is an interdisciplinary artist who has presented numerous performance art works internationally since 2002. The performance presented at UltraSpace is fluxus inspired and consists of interactions with objects to an audioscape created with music therapist Rachel Nolan. Loughlin’s work has taken as a starting point her neurodivergent experiences which are layered within the performance. In the soundscape, she recalls the objects in the studio at CCAM, images of Arakawa and Gins’ manifest destiny architecture, and her encounters with nature and animals while working outside during the pandemic years.
ST Luk, Project Director
Reversible Destiny Foundation
ST Luk is the project director at Reversible Destiny Foundation. He was heavily involved in the multidisciplinary studio practice of Arakawa+Gins, and worked closely with Madeline Gins to realize their last built project during their lifetime, the Biotopological Scale-Juggling Escalator, Dover Street Market, New York in 2013. Since their passing, he has played a crucial role in the preservation of the artists’ lifetime works and unique legacy. Among various projects, he is currently working on the reproduction of Arakawa’s Ubiquitous Site X (1987-91).
Andria Miller
Aquatic Scientist and Documentary Producer
Andria Miller, an aquatic scientist and documentary producer, was a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Oceanography intern with the Menden-Deuer lab amid the pandemic in 2020. Soon after, Andria became a graduate student in the lab, where she recently completed her master's thesis on the impacts of seasonal variation on phytoplankton in Narragansett Bay, compiling data from 2022 to 2023. Continuing her dedication to bridging the gap between science, society, and art forms, she started field producing environmental justice films and has a mission to communicate scientific concepts in a way that is accessible to everyone.
Elise Morrison
Assistant Professor of Theater Studies at Yale
Elise Morrison is an Assistant Professor of Theater Studies at Yale, where she teaches courses on Feminist Theater, Theater History, Digital Media in Performance, and Speech and Rhetoric, among others. She most recently enjoyed a position as Assistant Professor of Performance Studies at Texas A&M University, with a specialization in Performance and Technology. Morrison received her PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies from Brown University in 2011 and held a Mellon postdoctoral fellowship in Interdisciplinary Performance Studies at Yale from 2012-2015. She worked as Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Theater Studies Program at Yale from 2015-16. Her book, Discipline and Desire: Surveillance Technologies in Performance was published by University of Michigan Press in 2016. In 2015 Morrison edited a special issue on “Surveillance Technologies in Performance” for the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media (Routledge, 11.2) and has published on this topic in IJPADM, Theater Magazine, and TDR.
Jess Nash
Postgraduate Associate in Neuroscience
Jess Nash is a postgraduate researcher in Neuroscience at Yale University, a writer, and an artist, interested in the relationships between science, art, and nature—particular interests include the patterns/forms/processes of life, brain, and mind (evolution, morphology, identity, memory); the speculative, the weird, the science fictional; and storytelling and visual arts.
Harshita Nedunuri
Transdisciplinary Designer + Researcher, CCAM Ultra Space Research Fellow
Harshita Nedunuri is an interdisciplinary researcher & designer based in NYC. Her creative practice is centered around cyborg anthropology, with a specific interest in poetry as an instrument of divining collective consciousness. Harshita has been cultivating a myriad of explorations with Yale CCAM since late 2020 and is currently a CCAM Ultra Space Research Fellow. Harshita holds an MA from NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study and a dual BA from NYU Media, Culture & Communications + Psychology.
Alexander Ross
Research Affiliate Film and Media Studies at Yale University
Over twenty years film industry experience working with and for the studios as a script analyst, agent and producer. Discovered and worked with several Academy Award winning and nominated screenwriters such as Quentin Tarantino, Andrew Niccol, Iris Yamashita, Pat Duncan etc. As an academic at Oxford University, I have widely published on the screenwriting process and the business models of the Hollywood studios. Latest book: The Evolution of Hollywood's Calculated Blockbuster Films: Blockbusted. Fellow of New College, Oxford and Branford College, Yale.
Cynthia Rubin
Artist in Residence, Menden-Deuer lab, University of RI, Graduate School of Oceanography
Cynthia Beth Rubin, an early adopter of digital art with decades of fine art practice, began working with the Menden-Deuer lab at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography (URI-GSO) when she was teaching “Digital Nature” at the Rhode Island School of Design. As her teaching evolved to include plankton imagery, her work followed, and she joined lab meetings with the Menden-Deuer lab. She soon was combining micro-captures and hand-drawing into expressive prints, video, and AR installations. Rubin's work has been recognized internationally through exhibitions and film festivals, including the Techspressionism exhibition, Creative Tech Week in New York City, the Jewish Museum in Prague, the Siberia State Art Museum, the Kyrgyzstan State Museum, and in cities such as London, Paris, New York, Toronto, Montreal and elsewhere around the world, and in numerous editions of SIGGRAPH and ISEA. Her awards include multiple Connecticut Artist Fellowships, the New England Foundation on the Arts, among others, and artist residencies in France, Israel, Canada, and Scotland.
Setareh Samandari
Director + Visual Effects Artist
Setareh Samandari Director & VFX Artist, Setareh Samandari has always been an artist at heart, she had finished her Master of Arts in Political Science from CSUN and utilized it for Human Rights activities of the Baha'i Faith's External Affairs in Los Angeles. Her most recent project is Directing and creating visuals for a music video called Breathe Free sang by Shani Rigsbee ft. Andy. She made use of LED screens and Virtual Production all using the real time rendering of the Unity engine. She has worked on various creative projects and her passion for art is only matched by her curiosity to learn the tools of the trade. She has created her own series of videos called Virtues Basket, made Visual Effects for Jack Lenz's Here Comes Love about the Black Lives Matter movement, and created three full CG videos for The Garden of Ridvan to go with music Jack has produced and written in collaboration with James Seals and Kingsley Thurber. Setareh created Visual Effects for the films Steadfast, Exemplar, and Glimpses. She enjoys the creative possibilities offered by the world of Visual Effects and is currently working on the new film Dark Asset directed by Michael Winnick.
Art lawyer
Yayoi Shionoiri is an art lawyer and art historian who supports artists with over two decades’ worth of experience. Her interests include artistic practice at the intersection of law, and artistic practice as direct action. She serves as U.S. Alliance Partner to City Lights Law, a Japanese law firm that represents creators, innovators, and artists; and as an Outside Board Director to Startbahn, an art x blockchain company that is attempting to bring greater reliability to transactions in the art ecosystem. In the past, Yayoi has served as General Counsel to Artsy, Associate General Counsel of the Guggenheim Museum, and Legal Advisor to Takashi Murakami. She has degrees from Harvard University, Cornell Law School, and Columbia University. She serves as a Board Director to the Asia Art Archive in America.
Ben Simon
CCAM Computer Arts Fellow
Ben Simon is a business manager and agent for leading digital artists releasing work on the blockchain. He represents artists at the forefront of experimentation with computer and digital art, supporting their careers and practices. His background prior to working in the arts was primarily in organizational development and strategic planning for large international nonprofits like Greenpeace, Amnesty International, Mozilla, UNICEF, and Save the Children. He’s greatly enjoying the nimble experimentation of a dynamic field like digital art. He holds a degree in economics from Yale College.
Koichi Tsutsui
Lead Architect, Mitaka Lofts
Koichi Tsustui is an architect and former staff member of Arakawa＋Gins (2001-2004). During this period, he was in charge of many projects including Mitaka Loft as lead architect, and created a significant number of the studio's digital renderings. He studied architecture under Hiromi Fujii at Shibaura Institute of Technology in Tokyo, and then continued his studies at Columbia University. In the 1990s Fujii collaborated with Arakawa in the publication of their dialogue, and Koichi was introduced to Arakawa while in New York. In recent years he has been working together with the Reversible Destiny Foundation on the digital archives as well as future projects.
Wei Wu
Director, XR Artist , New York University Gallatin School of Individualized Study
Wei Wu is an interdisciplinary scholar and creator at New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where the fusion of narrative, urban studies, emergent technologies and performance study form the cornerstone of her current academic and creative endeavors. Originating from China with a distinguished career as a theater director and film screenwriter, Wei has notably contributed to East Asia's cultural scene with the popular online drama "The Flaming Heart," demonstrating a profound capability in storytelling that captivates audiences across boundaries, now accessible globally via YouTube. In the academic realm, Wei's contributions include insightful analyses on public governance and the integration of Buddhist political theory into contemporary discourse, with published works such as "How to Solve the Fragmentation of Public Governance - The Overall Governance Experience of Shanghai's 12345 Citizen Service Hotline" and "Ordered by the Buddha - Buddhist Political Theory and the Wuzhou Regime." These publications reveal a deep engagement with narrative as a tool for understanding and shaping urban and social landscapes. Transitioning her narrative expertise into the realm of extended reality (XR), Wu's focus at NYU Gallatin explores the potent intersection of XR storytelling, AI-generated narratives, and environmental studies. Her collaboration on the VR documentary "Being a NYC Oyster" with the Billion Oyster Project underscores a commitment to environmental storytelling, while her awarded project in the NYC Media Lab and Chanel's synesthesia challenge showcases innovative use of motion capture and AI to transform sensory experiences in virtual environments.
Michelle Binyan Xu
Producer, XR artist, NYU Tisch School of the Arts
Michelle Binyan Xu is a multimedia producer and creative technologist specializing in Virtual Production and biosensing XR , based in Brooklyn, NYC. She is passionate about exploring how novel human-computer interfaces can create human emotional experiences. Her specific focus lies in the potential of soft interfaces to broaden technology engagement, particularly among seniors,females, and children. Currently, she is a research resident at NYU Ability Project and ITP. From 2013 to 2021, Michelle excelled in China as an award-winning producer and filmmaker, leading the creation of top-rated TV series and multinational co-productions.
Adrian Yu
Habib Zargarpour
Visual Effects Artist, Blade Runner 2049
Habib Zargarpour Virtual Production Supervisor, Visual Effects Supervisor (Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania, Greyhound, Bladerunner 2049, The Perfect Storm). Habib invented the Virtual Production System used by Jon Favreau on The Jungle Book and by Spielberg on Ready Player One. He deploys real-time techniques for film making and combines his experience in film and real time engines to bring their benefits to Virtual Production. Habib has been nominated for two Academy Awards and won two BAFTAs for his work on Twister and The Perfect Storm. His visual effects career included developing groundbreaking effects while at Industrial Light & Magic, Electronic Arts, and as Director of Visuals for XBox Publishing at Microsoft. His film credits include Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania, Greyhound, Blade Runner 2049, and The Jungle Book where he pioneered Virtual Production using the Unity Real-Time Engine. Other credits are Signs, The Bourne Identity, Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace, Spawn, Jumanji, Star Trek: Generations, and The Mask. He has also been Senior Art Director on hit video games such as: RYSE: Son of Rome, and Need for Speed Most Wanted/ Underground. He is on the executive board of the VFX Branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, BAFTA, and a founding member of the Visual Effects Society and the 5D-Conference. Habib is also a Visiting Professor in Virtual Production at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.