Burak Arikan                  
                       
                       
    Please see my current updated bio here: burak-arikan.com/bio

I recently completed my master's degree at the MIT Media Laboratory in the Physical Language Workshop led by John Maeda. While at MIT, I pursued research exploring systems that address the transition from connectivity to collectivity in the context of creative expression. My current work is focused on building platforms for artists and designers that enable collectivity based on composing distributed electronic objects over the Internet. As an artistic exploration, I build systems that evolve with the interactions of people and machines, and I show the instances of these systems through diverse media including prints, animation, software, electronics, and physical materials.

I have been working and studying in the Physical Language Workshop since August 2004. During this time, my work shifted from experiments in interface and information design to my current work with building collective systems for creative expression. These systems operate with the network of programs, devices, and people. The common thread in this work is the study of large systems that are composed of high-level social and economic relationships and low-level physical interactions. The systems I have been creating are computer programs written in C, Java, Python, Ruby, and SQL that run on high-end servers, desktop computers, and microprocessors. I began creating screen-based compositions and web based systems using common input devices, and I am currently building larger complex systems that are synthesis of computer and communication networks, sensor and actuator networks, and social and economic networks.

Prior to attending MIT, I worked as an information architect and visual designer in the United States and Turkey. I received a Master of Arts degree in Visual Communication Design from Istanbul Bilgi University in 2004, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Yildiz Technical University in 2001.



arikan **at** media.mit.edu