Visual artist, musician and engineer Memo Akten explores the space between the abstract and the figurative, drawing on nature as his main inspiration. Born and raised in Istanbul, Akten began programming music and graphics at an early age on 8-bit computers, after which he worked in the games industry in London as designer and programmer until he started his artistic career in 2003. His work is driven by the desire to amplify the unseen relationships within and between images; associations between sounds, movement and form. Akten: “My biggest inspiration is nature, and trying to understand the nature of nature, science. As opposed to taking inspiration directly from the observable aesthetics of what I see around me, I am inspired by the processes and behaviours that create and shape them.” While his primary crafts include writing software, working with and approaching new technologies, the artist’s self-declared focus is to create powerful emotional and evocative experiences for the viewer - whether through installations, performances, films, music, or artworks accessible through the internet and mobile applications. Akten: “(I am) trying to understand and abstract (nature’s) phenomena, to visualise the invisible, extract and amplify the unseen relationships which sculpt and drive our world.” Through graphic visualisations using lines and nodes delicately dancing, Akten illustrates the nuclear fusion inside the sun powering our planet. The artist creates an astounding image that allows the viewer to re-examine the world - bridging the link between the arts and science. Akten’s work has been exhibited and performed worldwide, including at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London: Royal Festival Hall, London; Design Holon Museum, Tel Aviv; Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture, Moscow; STRP Biennale, Eindhoven; Creators Project, New York, Sao Paulo and Beijing; The Roundhouse, London; File Festival, Sao Paulo and Rio; Aldeburgh Music Festival; Sydney Biennale; and the Edinburgh Film Festival. In 2013, Akten’s collaboration FORMS with Sedition artist Quayola won the Golden Nica at the Prix Ars Electronica in the Animation category, and the artist is one of the core contributors to openFrameworks, a creative programming toolkit and lectures around the world. Akten lives and works in London. www.memo.tv