Refik Anadol creates sculptures that focus on architectural data, particularly exhibited in public spaces during his early career. Over time, he shifts toward large-scale projects, continuing to showcase these works in public spaces, by processing data from various fields through artificial intelligence programs. Recently, Anadol focuses on the memory of machines—how they perceive and process data. In his signature projects, he collects all kinds of data, including visual, auditory, seismic, geographical, meteorological, and cultural data, in collaboration with major institutions such as NASA and Google. He then feeds this data into AI programs that work with algorithms specifically written for each project, using data that is unintentionally created while the world and humanity continue their existence. In doing so, the artist creates data sculptures that illustrate how the technology and machines we live with perceive and interpret data.
Anadol’s works address the challenges and possibilities brought about by ubiquitous computing and explore what it means to be human in the age of artificial intelligence. He explores how the perception of time and space is radically shifting in an era where machines dominate our everyday lives. The ways in which the digital age and machine intelligence allow for new aesthetic techniques to create enriched immersive environments that offer a dynamic perception of space intrigue Anadol. By proposing the possibility of “post-digital architecture,” he invites his audience to envision alternative realities by redefined functions of both interior and exterior architectural elements. This approach goes beyond the integration of media into built forms, aiming to translate the logic of new media technologies into art and design.
Refik Anadol was born on November 7, 1985, in Istanbul. He completed his undergraduate studies in Visual Communication Design with the highest honors at Istanbul Bilgi University, specializing in photography and video. He then earned his master’s degree in Media Arts and Design at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Anadol currently serves as a faculty member and visiting researcher at the same department at UCLA.
Selected site-specific auditory and visual performances and exhibitions by the artist include the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (Australia); MEET Digital Culture Center (Italy); Artechouse New York (USA); Walt Disney Concert Hall (USA); Hammer Museum (USA); International Digital Arts Biennial Montreal (Canada); Ars Electronica Festival (Austria); l’Usine Geneva (Switzerland); Arc de Triomf (Spain); Zollverein SANAA’s School of Design Building (Germany); Istanbul Design Biennial (Turkey); and Sydney City Art (Australia). Anadol has also received numerous awards, including The Architect’s Newspaper Best Exhibition Design Award, Microsoft Research Best Vision Award, German Design Award, UCLA Art+Architecture Moss Award, University of California Institute for Research in the Arts Award, SEGD Global Design Award, and Google’s Art and Machine Intelligence Artist Residency Award.
Refik Anadol lives and works in Los Angeles.