. metaesthetica .
Metaesthetica is a design collective operating at the intersection of research, engineering, architecture, and design. We move beyond the production of static artifacts to engineer the very systems that generate aesthetics. By integrating algorithms, material intelligence, and synthetic life, we construct environments where form and meaning emerge from the interaction of complex agents. Our work treats these tools—whether computational or biological—as active participants in the creative process, exploring distributed agency to produce installations, research artifacts, and hybrid digital–physical works.
. THE TEAM .
Mert Toka is a computer scientist, media artist, and HCI researcher focused on creativity-support tools, generative art and design, agent-based simulation, data visualization, and computational fabrication. He builds interactive audiovisual systems, investigates emergent patterns, and explores the interplay of digital and physical making. His work has been published in CHI, UIST, DIS, IEEE VIS, and VISAP. He holds a Ph.D. and an M.S. in Media Arts & Technology from UC Santa Barbara, where he was a Fulbright Scholar, as well as a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from Sabancı University.
Iason N. Paterakis is a California-based architect-engineer and media artist, and a Ph.D. student in Media Arts & Technology at UC Santa Barbara’s transLAB (Prof. Marcos Novak). His work centers on biodata (e.g., brain organoid activity), AI-driven immersive environments, and large-venue projection mapping. He has presented at ACM SIGGRAPH, ISEA, and Ars Electronica, with projects across Asia, Europe, North America, and Antarctica. He also publishes in venues such as the International Astronautical Congress and IJAC, and is Co–Art Director (with Nefeli Manoudaki) of Brave New Work.
Nefeli Manoudaki is an architect-engineer and Ph.D. student in Media Arts and Technology at UC Santa Barbara, under Prof. Marcos Novak. Her practice sits at the convergence of nature, sensory experience, and design, using new technologies to craft immersive environments and installations. She researches AI, immersive systems, and bio-inspired architectural forms in tangible and digital media (XR, AI/ML). Guided by morphological and cognitive principles, she creates experiences that reconnect audiences with the natural world. Her work has been exhibited at Ars Electronica, ISEA, ACM SIGGRAPH, and other notable venues, and is Co–Art Director (with Iason Paterakis) of Brave New Work.
Diarmid Flatley is a composer, media artist, and researcher. His work develops metacompositional approaches to artmaking that connect disparate modalities and media through generative processes. His interests include high-dimensional spaces, dynamical systems, emergent structures, crossmodal correspondences, and multisensory integration. He holds a Ph.D. in Media Arts & Technology (UC Santa Barbara), an M.M. in Theory & Composition (NYU), and a B.A. in Music (UC San Diego). His works have been exhibited at accredited venues, including ISEA and ACM SIGGRAPH.
Stejara Iulia Dinulescu is an artist and Ph.D. student in Media Arts and Technology at UC Santa Barbara. Her creative practice examines human perception and action through questions of agency, free will, consciousness, embodiment, and computational intelligence. She develops assistive, wearable haptic technologies and robotic systems for human-machine interaction in the RE TOUCH Lab. She holds a B.S. in Psychology and B.A.s in Studio Art and Creative Computing (Southern Methodist University), as well as a M.S degree in Media Arts and Technology (UCSB). She received the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in 2021, and her work has been published across multiple disciplines, including haptics, robotics, and psychology venues.