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Artist · Designer · Educator
I am Bager Akbay, an artist, designer and educator born in Istanbul in 1976. I work across art, design and education, with technology connecting these parts of my life. Programming, mathematics, theatre, games and learning environments have all been part of that work. This is my account of the projects I have made, the people I have worked with and the places where I have taught and learned.
I sometimes think of my art as depicting the systems and transformations I see around me. Instead of making a picture of them, I build interactive systems and put them into the world. I often write the software myself because making the system is also how I understand the idea. In Artificial Stupidity we changed human perception; in I am an artist a visitor could save an image and become its artist; with Robot Poet Deniz Yılmaz I asked how I could design a robot while making as few decisions for it as possible.
When I began working on Deniz Yılmaz, my daughter was five. We were thinking about what it meant for her to become herself. During the day I was involved in establishing a Başka Bir Okul Mümkün cooperative; at night I worked on the robot. The question was personal: if I designed it, how could I leave room for it to be itself? Later, The Shepherd distributed the work of making an exhibition among people who did not know one another. Mahlas was an attempt to make that approach more general. Some story-writing prototypes worked, but much of the proposed system stayed on paper.
Design is another part of my practice. I have made websites, CD-ROMs, games, kiosks, electronics and interactive installations; worked on characters such as Aypera and Avind; and developed projects such as the smell-literacy kit Olfabe. Sometimes I lead a project from its idea through the team and implementation. Sometimes I write software, supervise a technical installation or help a team think through its strategy. I describe those roles with each project, including my contributions to other artists' work.
My work as an educator includes university teaching, workshops, mentoring student productions and building learning programs. I founded academic programs at Plato and Plato Media Lab, co-founded İskele47, and started its CoderDojo with a community of mentors and participants.
My own education is described separately from my teaching. I completed my bachelor’s degree at Yıldız Technical University; my subsequent postgraduate studies, including Interface Cultures in Linz, remained unfinished. I also worked as an actor and puppeteer.
As of October 2026, I advise Paribu Studio on strategy and cultural production and contribute to Istanbul Modern's Stüdyo STEAM learning environment. I make Sanat Sohbetleri with İlker Canikligil on FLU TV. Rassal Yürüyüş, my joint series with Tevfik Uyar, is paused. My periodic university courses are not currently running. The details below include finished projects and past responsibilities as well as work that continues.
I put this archive together from my recollections, old CVs, project documents, correspondence and published material. Where I cannot remember an exact date or detail, I say so. The interviews, texts and recordings linked here let you hear these ideas in their original context. Older accounts reflect the time they were made; my descriptions here also record what happened afterwards.
I made Artificial Stupidity with Ana Čigon and Vasja Progar. Rather than making a machine imitate intelligence, we altered human perception and bodily coordination to explore errors resembling those of computers. Vesela Mihaylova, Myrssini Antoniou and Markos Vogiatzoglou also collaborated. Big Head, Flip and No Ground reached working versions; the early mirrored Big Head prototype failed before we moved to a digital system. We completed the project in 2010.
I wrote a program that generated random images and deleted them after about four seconds. A visitor could press the red I am an artist button to save an image. The program then asked for the artwork's title and the artist's name: the person became its artist by choosing it, a little like a photographer. I wrote the generator from scratch. This mode used random generation; my related evolutionary experiments were a different part of the research. We planned an exhibition of the saved images, but it never opened.
I showed I am an artist at amber'12; the festival catalogue includes the work.
I am an artist was included in Commons Tense in The Hague, organized by TodaysArt and Amber. The published exhibition announcement lists the work as Ben Sanatçıyım.
I designed Deniz Yılmaz around a principle of making as few decisions for it as possible. Its name combines a common gender-neutral given name with a common surname; its face averages portraits from Posta's poetry pages. I tried different language corpora before using a selection of about 12,000 poems from antoloji.com. The program reads precomputed word-transition data and writes poems, then produces G-code for a drawing machine. I published my code, but left out the poetry data because it included other people's copyrighted writing. A fan community decided how Deniz's income and activities would be managed; it was a community, not a formally established foundation. In 2022, damage at a fair left the physical robot unable to work. We accepted that it had died instead of making a replacement. As of October 2026, the complete, non-working robot is in Istanbul Modern's education setting. A conversation about Deniz Yılmaz is included in Technological Arts Preservation (2021). At Borusan Contemporary in December 2017, Deniz Yılmaz was recognized as a speaker and received an artist fee. The first physical version used a CNC setup; the second used a Makeblock XY plotter with a Raspberry Pi. Deniz’s poetry book Diğerleri Gibi was published by BLOK art space in 2016.
Deniz Yılmaz was presented in Amber's area at TÜYAP, curated by Ekmel Ertan and Fatih Aydoğdu. I also remember an Amber presentation at Bilgi University, possibly in 2015; I still need to establish that event's date.
I take part as an artist in this program, which includes a wall installation remembering Deniz Yılmaz and the Söz: iO art experience. This is alongside my consultancy for Stüdyo STEAM. I designed Söz: iO for this programme. Participants choose themes and emotions to guide poetry generation, bringing questions of authorship and originality into the experience. The museum’s education team runs the programme.
I began with a sentence committing to an exhibition at Studio-X. Its team chose the home-related title and theme. People recruited online planned, criticized, revised and produced the exhibition. I routed their messages through a fictional character, Sabiha Akman, usually passing the work on without reading its contents in detail. People made the decisions and reviewed one another's work; I operated the communication manually. On 17 June 2016 I explained the process by email to the workers and applicant artists. The description from that time records a team of 35 and about 30 artist applications. I presented the process at BLOK art space on 15 July. Later, the correspondence and documents were shown at the Istanbul Design Biennial with personal information concealed. Çoban ran once and became a practical starting point for Mahlas. The biennial text describes a proposed automated system. In the actual exhibition process I manually routed work between people, who made the substantive decisions.
With Mahlas I wanted to turn The Shepherd's exhibition-specific process into a general framework for organizing work and decisions. We made a few short-story-writing prototypes. Much of the workflow, decision-making and Sentence Executor design remained theoretical. I returned to it intermittently for four or five years. Özgür Fırat Çınar, Orhan Kavrakoğlu and Yavuzhan Karayiğit worked with me. Their emphases were DevOps, programming and workflow management, but we all contributed across roles. The work stopped around 2021.
For Ayrin Ersöz's performance, İrfan Kaya and I wrote the code together. I carried out the first live implementation; Gülfem Erdoğan continued the later implementations.
Ayca Daştan’s thesis examines Atrofi 1 alongside other productions and acknowledges the production teams, including me. My documented contribution concerns Atrofi 1.
I provided technical support where Candaş Şişman's FLUX was first exhibited. The CyberArts 2011 catalogue credits Candaş Şişman for the video and sound design and includes my name in the acknowledgements.
My contribution to this collective interactive installation was acting. The project involved Myrssini Antoniou, Florian Weil and Markos Vogiatzoglou.
I worked on technical supervision, programming and live visuals for this Ars Electronica performance with pianist Maki Namekawa. Nohlab's Candaş Şişman and Deniz Kader provided art direction. The visuals and programming team also included Osman Koç, Zeynep Nal, Kaan Kaner and İsmail Kaşarcı. Monolab’s account documents the gala on 3 September 2012 and lists Zeynep Nal, Osman Koç and me in the technical team.
I worked on installation and technical supervision for the opening performance at Scriabin House in Moscow, with Nohlab, Osman Koç and pianist Andrey Korobeinikov.
I contributed software to disturbATI's Dadaist performance at the second Istanbul Design Biennial. I do not remember the exact function of my code well enough to describe it further.
I wrote software and set up hardware to print tweets matching a hashtag through a fax machine. Monolab's page documents #taksimsenin and the Herkes İçin Mimarlık stand at the Istanbul Design Biennial.
I contributed concept development and code to this interactive installation with Nohlab and Osman Koç. Its published credits name me, Candaş Şişman and Osman Koç. The system measured how long people looked at photographs and used their responses to choose subsequent images. Looking at the work also taught it. It was shown at Istanbul Modern in the Vitra Contemporary Architects series.
Ana Čigon acknowledges our exchanges and my hospitality in her thesis. This is an acknowledgement, separate from our collaboration on Artificial Stupidity.
Tom Eijkelenkamp thanks me for help with choosing the topic on printed page 56. The thesis year has not yet been established.
Vesela Mihaylova Vladimirova’s 2012 thesis includes my name in the acknowledgements on PDF page 2.
I made Avind, an AI-generated speaking character, for the Istanbul Digital Art Festival. My work was the festival avatar, alongside my earlier advisory contribution to the festival. The character was presented publicly as an AI curator. I describe what I made as a speaking digital character; I did not build an autonomous system for managing an entire exhibition. This project is finished.
I built a system to show how people moved through an exhibition. Overhead cameras supplied images for difference-based tracking; we turned the results into heatmaps and daily spatial-density analyses. I decided the approach, wrote the software and carried out the implementation, with technical support from two or three students.
I wrote the software for the project that brought together students' graffiti contributions. Guinness records the collective result as a 760.28 m² spray-painted picture made for Coca-Cola İçecek by 580 students from nine universities at Hezarfen Airport. My part was the software.
With Design in Situ, I wrote the software and supervised the on-site implementation of this running experience at the Barcelona Marathon Expo. I also modified the treadmills and integrated them into the interactive system. Eight treadmills supported a challenge based on maintaining a running speed.
I worked with Design in Situ on the software and on-site implementation, including modification and integration of the treadmills. The experience brought together an interactive projected floor and treadmill games.
I wrote software and carried out implementation for the RunIstanbul campaign, in which the two sides of Istanbul competed using NikeFuel activity data.
I was the technical supervisor for the Nike Haliç experience made with Design in Situ, combining a treadmill with responsive visuals.
I made the smile-detection software and provided on-site and technical supervision for a Dove experience with Design in Situ. I do not remember the campaign title precisely enough to name it here.
I provided technical supervision for this interactive trampoline installation. Its published credit uses the term Technical Production. Several videos show the same installation.
I developed the software and hardware for Art Maker Lab, working with Neslihan Varol on the museum side. The Do Robots Make Art? learning center offered five experiences for children aged 7–15: Art by Chance, Snapshot, Instant Me, Growing Game Platform and Magic Book. My later Stüdyo STEAM work grew out of this experience.
In these jobs I often did the whole range: programming, design, editing, video editing, 3D modeling, game design and graphic design. I used Macromedia Director and Lingo extensively. For kiosks and educational simulations I handled software, design and strategy. I remember pharmaceutical work largely through simulations, but cannot yet match every old brand name to a particular job or agency.
Abdi İbrahim’s press release credits my team and me with AI-assisted digital works for its sixth sustainability report. The report covers 2021–2022, while the release is from March 2024. The detailed division of production roles is not yet recorded here.
I wrote the code used in the experiments reported in Özgecan Koçak and Massimo Warglien’s When three’s a crowd. The article’s acknowledgements credit this contribution and also name Stefano Li Pira’s contribution to an early version.
With Design in Situ, I designed the electronic system and worked on the on-site installation for a cosmetics influencer event. The brand’s exact name and the event date are not yet recorded here.
I developed a six-axis xArm system that applies acrylic paint to paper. For a supplied word, AI generates an image; the image is converted into vectors and then G-code, which drives the physical painting process. Robot Painter is a descriptive title. The fair dates identify its presentation, rather than its starting date.
I advise the Paribu Studio team on strategy, artist relationships, knowledge production and cultural production around its digital venue. Before this role I was on Paribu Art's advisory board during its establishment.
I served on the advisory board during Paribu Art's establishment, before moving into my later consultancy with Paribu Studio.
I help with artist selection, adapting works to the learning setting, the program's structure and the arrangement of its space. I also take part as an artist in Words and Algorithms, which I describe separately below.
I worked with Murat Güllü and Âsude Alkaylı during Karaköy Güllüoğlu's move. I interviewed 70 people, worked on the Baklava Alayı idea and developed the content for a periodic table of baklava varieties; others made its visual design. We worked on practical relocation problems and brand strategy, including the Nadir brand, later the Nadir Gastronomi platform. This consultancy has ended.
Agencies sometimes invite me to work through an idea with them, often for projects they hope might receive awards. We brainstorm what the project could become, how to approach it and who might help make it.
I advised the festival in its early development and helped with its setup. The March 2020 Manifold interview discusses that period. Later, I made the Avind avatar for the festival.
I guided the concept and pedagogical suitability of a project recreating Tohum's school in Minecraft. I remember it in relation to the pandemic period, but the chronology needs another check against the project material. The agency's film credits me as Educational Consultant.
I contributed to Hisar Schools’ AI Advisory Board. The school’s 2025 AI education policy records this contribution; the exact term of my involvement is not specified here.
İKSV’s institutional archive lists me among the advisors for two editions of the Study and Research Program, supporting participants’ project development.
In 2024 I worked with Küme Foundation on strategy concerning how art is perceived in Türkiye, its current realities and potential goals.
I developed Olfabe as a smell-literacy kit with Eyüp Sabri Tuncer. I took responsibility for its idea, team and system. We produced 1,000 kits for teachers and workshop facilitators, with games for noticing, comparing, describing and naming smells. The kit has ten games and 34 scents. Deniz İkizler worked on project development, Uğur Acil on visual language, Cansu Yalçıner Kerpiççi on educational design and Alper Kerpiççi on research and educational implementation. Âsude Alkaylı was also part of the team. This version is complete; we have discussed a smaller one.
I developed Aypera with Tevfik Uyar and Zeynep Nal Sezer as a design project. I focused on its persona, social-media role, overall strategy and AI integrations. Zeynep concentrated more on technical production, including deepfake and motion capture, and Tevfik on communication. We shared technical and strategic work and received additional modeling support. We later handed the project over to Birol Güven. My involvement has ended.
For this Şişecam project, I shaped the implementation strategy, assembled the team and narrated the film. Zeynep Nal Sezer wrote the software; Cem Say and Serhan Bali advised us. We compared music associated with Atatürk's preferences with a wider song collection. The published credits list Şişecam as project owner, Lokal for the idea, me for implementation and Zeynep for coding.
I developed a separate poetry-writing robot for a Ford advertising project. Orhan Kavrakoğlu wrote the Python adaptation and made a substantial software contribution. I worked out the adaptation approach, and together we developed a romance measure by comparing word frequencies in romance novels with other novels. Positive and negative word weights helped steer the poems. I would need to revisit the code to explain exactly where those weights entered the generation process.
I taught full-time in Communication Design and Multimedia while serving as Acting Head of the Informatics Department. I also worked on e-learning coordination and projects. My courses included Virtual Environment Design, E-Media and Marketing, Design Theories, Introduction to Computer Graphics, Modern Design Concepts and Advanced Computer Graphics. Yıldız’s 2007–2010 Strategic Plan lists me as Öğr. Gör. Aydın Bager Akbay under Informatics in Appendix 5, the strategic planning teams.
I taught 3D Design, Programming and Graphic Design at Beykent.
I taught courses including Multimedia Applications (POV3211, 2015) and Video Project. My old records also include POV3116 in 2012; I have not yet matched its official title.
I taught interactive media, programming, project development, teamwork and visual communication. My program-founding and management responsibilities are described separately. My 2011–2012 course list includes: Visual Communication in Art and Design; Ideas in Context; Interactive Media Seminar I; Ideas Generation and Development in Art and Design; Interactive Media Principles; Project Design, Implementation and Evaluation; Interactive Media Teamwork; New Technologies in Interactive Media; Computer Programming Principles; Work-based Experience; Employability Skills; Animation Techniques for Interactivity in Art and Design; Interactive Media Presentation.
I taught VCD547, Interdisciplinary Approaches in Design.
I taught Programming for New Media, including NM107, and Multimedia Project.
I taught LSC505 Instructional Design with Bengi Birgili in the Learning Sciences master's program. The five-ECTS course was in English and brought together making, robotics, Scratch, Python, 3D modeling, prototyping and project-based learning. We held part of it at İskele47.
I taught New Media Art. As of October 2026, I have not opened this course for about two years; it may be offered again periodically.
I taught Today’s Art. As of October 2026, I have not opened this course for about two years; it may be offered again periodically. The university course form lists Günümüz Sanatı (Today’s Art), ODB170, as a Turkish-language, four-ECTS course.
I taught introductory programming for theatre and puppetry students. As of October 2026, I have not opened this course for about two years; it may be offered again periodically.
I taught the graduate course TECH 572 — Story Telling at Istanbul Bilgi University in the autumn semester of 2019–2020.
While teaching in Communication Design and Multimedia, I was Acting Head of the Informatics Department and worked on e-learning coordination and projects. These were concurrent responsibilities in different units.
I founded and headed the Graphic Design and Visual Communication programs. I remember their beginnings as approximately 2010 and 2011 respectively.
I founded and ran Plato Media Lab, where students worked together on classes, productions and projects with the sector.
I ran Açık Okul. The published 2014 program at Tasarım Atölyesi Kadıköy also includes my presentations and moderation.
I started CoderDojo at İskele47 and ran it with many mentors and participants. We offered free coding and making workshops. The project history records İskele47 CoderDojo through 2018 and Zemberek CoderDojo in 2018–2020. The children prepared and curated their own 2017 exhibition.
I designed Tanışkan with Yunus Emre Institute to introduce AI literacy. The workshops connected artistic expression, language and cultural exchange across eight countries. Cansu Yalçıner worked on coordination and content design, Alper Kerpiççi on content, technology and teaching, alongside a wider field team.
I supported the initial phase of the Nesin Foundation project in Samandağ, Hatay, including participation in meetings. The program worked through both a fixed center and mobile workshops.
Zemberek's record lists me in the team for this BBOM learning-material design set. I do not remember my contribution clearly enough to describe it.
I led a Scratch workshop connected to Pera Museum's And Now the Good News exhibition. Participants combined images, text and sound through code to make Dadaist works. The museum announced the sessions for 10 May and 7 June 2022 at 19:30, online via Zoom, with a duration of 90 minutes.
I led the Contemporary Art workshops at Nesin Art Village in 2022 and 2023.
Osman Koç and I led this workshop series on autonomous art machines in 2018 and 2019. The linked program pages document the workshops.
The SGKM spring program lists my AI literacy workshop. It allows Turkish or English according to the participants; the actual language and exact workshop date are not specified here.
GamFed Türkiye’s account documents an Oyun Sanatı training session with me. It gives 28 April; the year is not yet established here.
Istanbul Modern’s program lists me as instructor for the six-week 2024–2025 Contemporary Art and AI course. The museum also announced an eight-week edition starting on 8 January 2026. These program editions are separate from my Stüdyo STEAM consultancy.
I led AI workshops within the Eğitimle Daha İyiye project. TEGV’s 2024 annual report records workshops in four cities; related accounts identify Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş and Malatya. TEGV also reports a Kahramanmaraş workshop held on 24 December, in a news item published on 7 January 2026. I joined content creators in helping children develop stories, characters and images.
Ebeveyn Destek, a BBOM association platform, lists my workshop Çocuklarla Dijital İşleri Kolaylaştıracak İpuçları among its past events on 24 December 2020. It belongs to my work with parents around children and technology.
Anadolu University’s 2023 annual report records my participation in Sanat Eğitiminde Remiks ve Çoklu Medya on 26 December 2023. This workshop is listed separately from the Art and Artificial Intelligence talk held on the same date.
I led a corporate AI workshop for TikTak on 28 March 2025.
I led a GalataPerform masterclass on developing a style with AI in May 2026.
My online course Tasarım Odaklı Yaratıcı Fikir Üretme has been available through TeacherX since 2022 and continues as of October 2026.
I gave an online training session on kinetic sculpture, algorithmic art and autonomous art machines within Hack Art. The Hackath10 channel published the session.
Educathon20 lists my name under Mentors & Speakers. The listing does not distinguish my precise role.
I contributed to ALİKEV’s Young Artists Fund as a volunteer educator in 2021. In its online programme I discussed what art is, how it is made, and art and technology.
I taught and mentored the students who made Beyin Bedava, the Ruffles Goldberg Machine, Kafam Siyah Kutu, Autopsy, Cinali Deneyleri, Partake, ProSapiens, Under Constructivism, Opsesif and Suyadoku. Yasemin Yıldırım's B(agli), shown in the 2008 ProSapiens exhibition, is another student work for which I was the instructor.
My students and I made this interactive music performance in the TAK / Istanbul Design Week context. The video description also mentions a neighboring event; our team was my students and me.
I gave individual lessons in mathematics and English, sometimes working with a student over a long period.
I co-founded İskele47 as a shared workshop for making, teaching, experimentation and working together. My involvement continued between 2014 and 2021.
I was among the founders of the Kadıköy cooperative. After about three years of involvement, I continued my work in the separate BBOM association. I no longer have a role in the cooperative.
I served as president of the BBOM association for about six years. I am now an ordinary member. I have not yet reconstructed the exact presidency dates.
I held presidency and board roles at different times in Amber's association, BİS. As of October 2026, I am an ordinary member.
I helped lay Zemberek's foundations through earlier projects and took part in its establishment. I describe my relationship with it as organic. Its website lists me on the board; the earlier work goes back before the association was formally established in 2025.
I held a management role in this professional organization. I have not yet added its exact title and dates.
I was involved in founding BUBİ.
I was a founding member of Akıl Derneği.
We first tried a very small maker fair at İskele47. For the larger fair, I helped with announcements, bringing people together, dividing it into areas and identifying sub-curators. I also managed one area.
I served on the Chairman’s Award jury; this describes the award category, not a jury-chair position.
I served on the social jury at the Istanbul Regional, held at Ülker Sports and Event Hall.
I contributed to the jury selecting participants for AltCity Istanbul.
The published announcement lists me on the jury for this new media artist residency.
I served as a triage reviewer for the Art Gallery programme of SIGGRAPH 2024.
I served on the AI & Data Felis jury at the Felis Awards in 2024.
I served on the Digital, Social Media and Activation jury of the 35th Kristal Elma in 2023.
I make Sanat Sohbetleri with İlker Canikligil on FLU TV. İlker hosts; I am a recurring participant in the series we make together. The episodes and their short cuts are collected as one series here.
Tevfik Uyar and I make Rassal Yürüyüş together. The series is paused; we may return to it, but there is no new schedule yet. PowerApp also publishes a festival recording of Rassal Yürüyüş in its 2nd Power Podcast Festival archive, listed at 28:28.
I invited and interviewed the guests in the Sibernetik series accompanying Sekme #2.
In 2016 Hakan Ataş and I organised live online conversations answering questions about technology in education and maker learning. I collect four published recordings here as one series.
I gave this keynote at WCDA 2025. The official program lists it as Keynote 5 in Hall 1.
I am listed as a keynote speaker for ManifestOU’s Memory and Sensory Experiences symposium at Istanbul Okan University. The program schedules my online session for 21 March 2025; the university’s subsequent account notes my presentation of Olfabe.
The official summit program lists my keynote in the 13:45–14:15 slot.
Gelişim University’s post-event report records opening speeches by İsmail Hakkı Polat and me. The conference theme was entrepreneurship and innovation in the new media ecosystem.
I joined this Transmediale panel moderated by Jussi Parikka, with participants including Morehshin Allahyari, Ayhan Aytes and Ebru Yetişkin.
I took part in the PLUGIN: X-CHANGE program alongside Nihat Karataşlı, Korhan Kaya, Osman Koç and Onur Sönmez.
I joined Nihayet Cihan, Murat Palta and Naz Aydemir Akyol in the opening panel of the conference, themed Görevimiz Oyun. We discussed play and its place in our professional lives.
I joined Erdal İnci and Ozan Türkkan in a Contemporary Istanbul panel moderated by Ebru Yetişkin. We addressed the collection, distribution, exhibition and mediation of new media art.
I spoke about new media and changing conditions for education at a panel hosted at Işık University’s Faculty of Fine Arts, organized with MSGSÜ Informatics. Salih Akkemik moderated; Kemal Şahin and Murat K. Girgin also participated. The publisher notes that the first thirty minutes have audio only, followed by video.
I participated in the Design and Innovation panel with Jasjit Singh and Engin Ayaz, moderated by Merih Pasin. The organizer’s channel publishes the panel recording. The date above is its publication date.
I spoke with Selçuk Artut at Akbank Sanat about machine learning, generative tools and art, in a conversation moderated by Gözde Mutluer.
I spoke at BİSAV as part of the second Sanat Tarihine [Mümkün] Bakışlar series. The discussion brought together technology, art and artificial intelligence. BİSAV TV publishes the recording.
I gave an Art and Technology talk at TTGV’s event titled 2019 Refresh. Despite the year in its name, the event took place on 13 December 2018, as TTGV states in the recording description.
I gave a presentation for this international seminar about the changing future of cultural institutions. BUM Atölye published the recording in January 2021.
I have grouped the recordings here by series or publisher, keeping their original titles. Longer conversations are listed rather than treating every short excerpt as a separate appearance. I also spoke at Haydarpaşa in 2018. No public recording is linked here; no public video has yet been located. The title of my 2018 Haydarpaşa TEDx talk was Bana Fikrini Söyleme.
I spoke on Art and Cybernetics on the second day of Istanbul Arel University’s ICTADC 2024 congress.
I was a guest at TED University’s VCODE Talks. The department’s account is linked here; a separate talk title is not specified.
I discussed Deniz Yılmaz, literature, creativity and human–machine relationships at Ibn Haldun University’s Comparative Literature Department. Emine Hoşoğlu Doğan moderated the conversation.
I took part in the InnoMaDE webinar program on art with new technologies. The bilingual program lists my session as being in Turkish.
I joined Halil Aksu and Selçuk Keser on this panel, moderated by Erdem İnanç.
AFSAD publishes this presentation under the title Yapay Zekâ da Bazen Bocalıyor. The page publication date is given here; it is not being used as the presentation date.
I took part in OMM’s programme with İş Yatırım on 15 January 2022, discussing art, design and art education.
I gave this seminar as part of Istanbul Modern’s Sizin Perşembeniz program. This speaking engagement is separate from my consultancy work at the museum.
I was a guest in the Tasarım İşi program at Haliç University. This talk is separate from my strategy work with Küme Foundation.
I took part in the eighth Congress on Intelligence and Talent. The historical speaker page is linked here; a specific talk title has not yet been added.
I took part in the TÜGİAD Technology Summit. The organizer’s historical speaker page is linked here.
I joined the Bir Başka series for a discussion with Ebru Yetişkin around my work and AI.
Deniz Yılmaz was recognized as a speaker at this event and received an artist fee. He was a participant in the program, as well as a subject of discussion.
Salt Beyoğlu screened my Jeff Talks recording in its Jeff Talks Back to Back program, at 16:00 on 8 August and 14:00 on 16 August 2018. These were screenings of a recording rather than new live talks.
I joined Tom Klinkowstein, Elif Demirci, Erdem Dilbaz and Osman Koç on a panel moderated by Ebru Yetişkin, in connection with Tom Klinkowstein’s exhibition.
I participated in this discussion in connection with İskele47. The report summarizes the discussion collectively, without attributing each point to an individual participant.
I joined the panel on green curating with Elmas Deniz, Meltem Şahin and Zeynep Çelik.
I took part in the Digital Art panel with Ali Miharbi and Burak Arıkan.
Accounts of SAP BTP Summit Türkiye identify my contribution as the closing talk. The exact date is not yet established here.
Nilüfer Municipality’s program lists my talk on digital technologies and the present and future of design at Pancar Deposu.
The municipality’s program lists an interactive conversation with me on setting up a digital art workshop.
The institutional account lists my discussion with Emine Öztaner at Galatasaray University’s Turkish–French AI Days.
The DTK24 program lists my Kahramanın Ölümü talk on the transition from a single leader to distributed governance.
An account of the event records my panel with Özge Bakırçalı, moderated by Ece Ok: New Forms of Expression in Tomorrow’s World: Digital Transformation in Arts and Culture.
The organizer’s account lists me with Serhan Yılmaz, Nazlıcan Yoney and Cantekin Ertekin on a panel moderated by Akan Abdula.
Akbank’s account records me as its first Akbanklı Buluşmaları guest of 2017, discussing technology, children and the maker movement.
I joined Vahit Tuna and Ebru Yetişkin to discuss production processes involving Deniz Yılmaz, The Shepherd and the Mahlas research of that period.
The symposium program lists me with Eva Fisli, İrem Çoban, Onur Tatar, Ege Kanar and Melih Özbek; Orhan Cem Çetin is the moderator. The relationship to the separately titled AI presentation has not yet been established.
I was a speaker at Marmara Metaverse Summit on 7 February 2022. MİTTO’s account of the event lists me among the speakers and links to a shared recording of the summit.
I spoke about art and artificial intelligence at Anadolu University’s Faculty of Education. The university’s annual report dates the event to 26 December 2023; its news account describes the conversation.
I gave this presentation at MSGSÜ’s carpet workshop. The Ortak Mekik project publishes it in two parts: Khipu and Collective Production, and Bozmadan Bilemezsin. I keep the parts together as one presentation.
Topkapı University announced me as the guest for the sixth New Media and Communication Conversations, moderated by Selime Büyükgöze. Its program gives 12 April 2022 at 13:00 in the Kazlıçeşme campus’s Block I conference hall.
I gave a presentation at Ankara University FİSAUM’s summit on artificial intelligence, Industry 4.0 and intellectual property law on 12 February 2018. The university’s account introduces me as a co-founder of İskele47.
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s 36th Genç Günler brochure lists my Digital Art conversation for 11 May 2022, 13:00–15:00, at Müze Gazhane’s Meydan Stage. This entry follows the published program.
KTO Karatay’s program lists me for the Sanatta Yapay Zekâ webinar on 9 December 2021 at 15:00. The program was also circulated through an official Ministry of Education notice.
Hacettepe University’s Painting Department announced my online conversation On Art and Technology for 28 December 2021, 19:00–20:30. The announcement describes a discussion of the relationship between technology and art through works from the preceding thirty years.
Flu Akademi and Kolektif House announced İlker Canikligil and me for a conversation on art, creativity and AI at KoLounge Levent. The two pages use the titles Sanat Bitti mi? (Yoksa Yeni mi Başlıyor?) and Sanat ve Yapay Zeka – Flu Talks for the same 16 May 2026 program. This entry records that announcement.
Osman Koç and I discussed artificial intelligence, singularity and social transformation in this BUBİ TV conversation. I link the long version here; its short cut belongs to the same conversation. The date is the video publication date, not an independently established recording date.
The T&R6 Istanbul 2020 channel publishes my presentation in two parts. I collect the two recordings here as one presentation; the programme name alone does not establish its exact date.
My talk İyi Bir Fikir Bulmak at the Mehmet Zorlu Foundation Youth Summit is available on Berry TV. I keep this talk separate from the short Anlatsın question-and-answer videos. Their exact event editions have not yet been matched.
Design Thinking Turkey publishes my talk Tasarım Araçları Nelerdir? Elimizde İngiliz Anahtarı Kapalıçarşı’da Ne Yapıyoruz? The recording is linked here; its exact event date remains open.
I participated in the 2018 Işık Design Days programme and gave an online AI Literacy seminar on 8 May 2024. The department publishes short documentation of both editions. These clips are event documentation rather than full lecture recordings; my individual 2018 slot is not separately dated.
I was among the speakers at BASE Talks 2018. BASE’s programme overview lists my participation. The linked video is a one-minute overview of the programme, not a recording of my individual session.
I spoke about AI literacy in Doğuş Otomotiv Plus Galataport’s Kültürün Artısı programme.
I gave the talk Yapay Zekâ: Tasarımın Bugünü ve Geleceği at OİB’s 13th Future of Automotive Design Competition, held at İzmir Institute of Technology.
I joined Cihan Özalevli and Sezai Ozan Zeybek in this conversation about education, future skills and a shared vision of the future. Özge Karakaya moderated the session. The linked recording was published by FOW.Connect.
I gave a talk titled Formülle Sanat at Konya Book Days in October 2026.
I was one of the presenters discussing the production process and technical background of Deep Space Music at SALT Galata, Workshop 2–3. Our presentation was part of the NERDWORKING, NOHlab and Plato Media Lab presentations programme.
PowerUp Academy has announced me as a speaker for İnsan ve Gelecek in Bursa on 7 November 2026. This entry records an announcement, not a completed appearance. The announcement also uses the PowerBoard label; its scope and term are not established here.
I have grouped the recordings here by series or publisher, keeping their original titles. Longer conversations are listed rather than treating every short excerpt as a separate appearance.
I have grouped the recordings here by series or publisher, keeping their original titles. Longer conversations are listed rather than treating every short excerpt as a separate appearance.
I have grouped the recordings here by series or publisher, keeping their original titles. Longer conversations are listed rather than treating every short excerpt as a separate appearance.
I have grouped the recordings here by series or publisher, keeping their original titles. Longer conversations are listed rather than treating every short excerpt as a separate appearance.
I was a guest on this episode of Teknolojinin Şapkaları.
I was a guest on this episode of Teknolojinin Şapkaları.
Eda Emirdağ and I were guests on this episode of tıktıka.
Osman Koç and I were guests on Açık Dergi to discuss creative industries and İskele47.
I joined Cengiz Yalçınkaya’s program for a conversation on AI and art.
I joined Tolga Ünvan as a guest in the second episode of The Connect, moderated by Mert Şuşut.
I discussed NFTs with Elif Bereketli in the third Komünite Konuşuyo podcast episode. It belongs to calling’s Adaptasyon issue from spring 2021. Elif hosted the series, edited by Burcu Bilgiç.
I answered Anlatsın’s questions at the Mehmet Zorlu Foundation Youth Summit. The short videos cover careers, making, university learning and AI. I collect them as one interview context rather than six separate appearances.
This collection brings together my appearances in Espas episode 12, Dijitalist episode 7, Yeryüzleri episode 7, Dijital Sanat episode 8 and Miyako’dan Payitahta episode 104. They are different programs, grouped by broadcaster. Yeryüzleri focuses on Deniz Yılmaz; the other recordings approach art, technology and my practice from different perspectives.
I was Evrim Kuran’s guest on 3+3. The publisher identifies this conversation as episode 161.
I joined Öğretmen Ağı’s Bi’ Çırpıda podcast for a conversation about creativity. This is a media appearance, separate from workshops or teaching appointments.
I spoke about fatherhood and my experiences as a parent in episode 24 of Maskeli Ebeveyn, published by Binnaz Sönmez Dursun.
Kidswindow’s Social Play film credits my contribution of views and information alongside Ceylan Akgün, Ezgi Koman and Kürşad Karamahmutoğlu. The film was produced with support from the Sivil Düşün EU Programme. My contribution is participation in the film, rather than ownership of its design or software.
Campaign Türkiye interviewed me at the Social Good Summit. This short interview is separate from any stage presentation at the event.
I talked with Mürsel Çavuş about school, programming, teaching and the workshop. This is one place to read how I described the route to İskele47 at that time.
Oğulcan Ekiz and I discussed Deniz Yılmaz, The Shepherd, authorship and the sharing of code. He translated our Turkish conversation into English. My explanations describe the projects at the time of that conversation.
I spoke with Ekrem Arslan about the relationship between art, craft and education, and what it means to call someone an artist. The publisher makes an excerpt available; the rest is behind its subscription link.
I was a guest in the fifth conversation of this series. The program introduces my work through research as an art practice and links to the publisher’s video channel. I have linked the program page here; this entry does not stand for a review of the full recording.
This conversation includes my early advisory involvement with the Istanbul Digital Art Festival. It belongs to the festival’s planning period, before its later editions.
I contributed my views on technology in education to this article, alongside another educator. It discusses making, open tools and helping children shape the technologies they use.
I spoke with Fatma Erin; the publisher presents this conversation in its artist interview archive.
Osman Koç and I were interviewed by Akın Arslan. This is a joint interview, rather than a text I authored.
I discussed technology with Birol Biçer in this interview for Lacivert.
I answered Erhan Demirtaş’s questions about NFTs in this Gazete Kadıköy interview.
I discussed image-generation tools and art with Erhan Demirtaş.
Muharrem Yeni interviewed me about Robot Poet Deniz Yılmaz for Sin Edebiyat. The publication record gives issue 7, pages 24–25, ISSN 2547-9857.
I contributed answers to Bant Mag’s artist chain alongside Refik Anadol, Eda Gecikmez, Sevim Sancaktar, Aykan Safoğlu and Hera Büyüktaşcıyan. My answers discuss community, decisions and governance.
The organizer’s account describes me co-hosting the second Hayal Gücü Awards ceremony with young people from Hayal Gücü Merkezi. Its page labels are inconsistent, so I have not assigned a year to the ceremony.
Control Rooms — book about my practice, with my contribution
Hakan Ataş and I wrote Scratch coding books for children, educators and families, published by Abaküs. Scratch 3.0 ile Kodlama is an updated version of the earlier work. Publisher entries include ISBN 9786059129213 for the 9+ book and 9786059129169 for Scratch 3.0 ile Kodlama.
Our learning-card books include Çocuklar İçin Scratch ile Kodlama 6+ Yaş (ISBN 9786059129435) and Scratch 3.0 ile Kodlamaya Giriş (9786052263594). I have not yet mapped the exact relationship between all their editions.
I co-authored this practical physical-computing book with Hakan Ataş. Abaküs published it; the catalogue lists 168 pages and ISBN 9786059129527.
I was the guest theme editor of fugamundi's Sibernetik issue of Sekme. I wrote the editorial and invited people for the accompanying conversations.
I was interviewed for Çağla Gül Şenkardeş's Blokzincir Teknolojisi ve NFT'ler (Ceres, 2022). Hakan Ataş and I also gave some consultancy to Maker Eğitim Kitaplığı; although old imprints list us as series editors, I remember my involvement as limited.
Deniz Yılmaz’s poems were published as Diğerleri Gibi by BLOK art space in 2016. I developed the robot poet; the poems are credited to Deniz Yılmaz. Ebru Yetişkin compiled and edited the book. The publication and public book signing were part of the project’s life beyond its software and drawing machine.
I wrote this text about what happens to works, their derivatives and their stories. Merve Ünsal translated it into English. Read the original statement in its publication context; the link is not a blanket licence for every collaborative or commissioned project in this archive.
I wrote Why I Should Learn from Our Masters! for Contemporary Absurdities, Existential Crises, and Visual Art, edited by Katherine Guinness and Charlotte Kent. Intellect lists the English chapter on pages 80–94, with DOI 10.1386/9781789389067_6.
I published short stories on hikaye.bagerakbay.com. The archived index lists Simülasyon, Opsiyon Makinası – istifa and Opsiyon Makinası – matematikçi. The first two texts are linked in archived copies; I also share the full text of matematikçi through the Google Docs link below.
For my unfinished master's research I proposed a system with Generators to create images, Analyzers to evaluate them and Minds to direct later production. I worked with evolutionary generation, image analysis and feedback. I did not finish the thesis or the integrated system. Looking back, some of what I was trying reminds me of GAN-like ideas, but that is a later comparison. I am an artist was a realized artwork related to this research. Beautiful was a smaller experiment combining Flickr images through additive and subtractive blending. The thesis draft’s full title is Brute Force Art: A Generative Art Framework.
These are theses and articles in which I was interviewed, my work was discussed or cited, or my name appeared in an acknowledgement. Each entry states the relationship. Original publication titles are retained; these are works by other authors.
My interview appears in Appendix A / A1, printed pages 162–179, of Merve Çaşkurlu Belgesay’s 2013 Yeditepe master’s thesis.
Yasemin Sagdic’s University of Genoa thesis includes an interview with me, dated 20 February 2024, in section 4.2.
I am listed among the research participants on printed pages 102–103 of İlayda Seyhun Gören’s thesis. It also discusses Deep Space Music on pages 80–81.
Asena Öztürk’s 2022 Kafkas University thesis studies Deniz Yılmaz and Diğerleri Gibi in depth. The preface records my responses to questions during the research.
Özgür Ballı’s study includes an interview with me in Appendix 1, printed pages 158–165. The linked copy is hosted by a third-party document platform; an institutional copy is still being sought.
İleti-ş-im 27, 79–108; DOI 10.16878/gsuilet.373242. I am listed among the interview participants on page 93, with my views quoted later in the article. The study’s interviews were conducted in July–December 2016.
Art-e 18(36), 1085–1112; DOI 10.21602/sduarte.1544040. Section 4.1 presents an interview with me on pages 1095–1096.
Convergence; DOI 10.1177/13548565241284533. Footnote 7 names me among the interviewed artists. The author states that the article draws on her 2021 doctoral research.
Derya Gözeyik’s thesis examines Deniz Yılmaz; the indexed discussion appears on printed page 113.
Hatice Cansu Yeni’s thesis discusses Deniz Yılmaz and authorship around printed page 51. Historical proposals described there should be read in their original context.
Gaye Küçükkızılkaya’s thesis discusses Deniz Yılmaz on printed page 27.
Serpil Uysal’s thesis discusses Deniz Yılmaz on printed page 115 and cites TEDx and Borusan talks.
Burcu Kaya’s 2018 Istanbul Bilgi University thesis discusses Deniz Yılmaz and authorship on printed page 9. The interpretation belongs to the author and the publication’s historical context.
Berkan Bengi’s thesis lists The Shepherd and my name in its biennial participant appendix on printed page 92.
Rukiye Mine Pehlivan’s thesis cites my interview in Alp Doğu Eser’s 2023 book, on printed page 81. This is a citation of an existing interview.
Deren Ümit’s thesis discusses Deniz Yılmaz on printed pages 72–73. The linked copy is on a third-party document platform.
Adil Varolgüneş’s thesis discusses Deniz Yılmaz around printed pages 102–104. The linked copy is on a third-party document platform; direct institutional metadata is still incomplete.
SKAD 11(23), 131–145; DOI 10.25306/skad.1769424. The article discusses Deniz Yılmaz and the book’s introductory interview around page 138.
Sanat ve Tasarım Dergisi 26, 415–439. Deniz Yılmaz is discussed on page 428 through published sources.
Ebru Kalender’s thesis abstract names me in its account of new media art in Turkey. The extent of the discussion in the full thesis is not yet established here.
Umut Burcu Tasa’s doctoral thesis includes my name in a project table, with a 2005/2006-1 entry titled Yemek. My specific role in that entry is not yet established.
Cana Tülüş Türk discusses The Shepherd in relation to management and politics, drawing on a TRT 2 Dijital Sanat episode. This is the author’s commentary on the work.
Mine Kaplangı wrote Control Rooms, edited by Merve Ünsal, with contributions from me, Ebru Yetişkin and others. It discusses Deniz Yılmaz, The Shepherd and Mahlas. We also held conversations around it at Studio-X, AVTO and Poşe in 2019.
I attended Aksaray Mahmudiye Kindergarten from 1978 to 1981. I attended İcadiye Primary School in 1981–1987, Kadıköy Anadolu Lisesi's middle school in 1987–1991 and İstanbul Atatürk Fen Lisesi in 1991–1994. I then spent an additional high-school year at Kogyokusha in Tokyo through a Rotary exchange in 1994–1995.
I completed my bachelor's degree in Communication Design and Multimedia at Yıldız Technical University, where I studied in 1999–2005. Before that I attended YTÜ computer programming in 1995–1996 and İTÜ Mathematics Engineering in 1996–1999, leaving both. I began postgraduate Interactive Media Design at YTÜ in 2005 and later left. I studied Interface Cultures at the University of Arts Linz in 2009–2014 and left at the thesis stage. I did not complete a master's degree.
I made Kandinsky, Top Model, Cr8, Audio Search, Voice-Controlled Robot Simulation, Kombinezon and Amman Avcı while I was a student. They belong to my own education, before the later projects I mentored as a teacher.
As a student, I made filters for Adobe Photoshop and Premiere.
I began programming around 1984 on home computers including Spectrum, Oric and Amstrad, and used Pascal from around 1988. As a teenager, I spent two summers in technical service at Kompütek. While studying at İTÜ in 1996–1999, I worked on computing tasks there. My later professional work included Delphi/Pascal development at Doruk Otomasyon in 1998–1999 and a short game-design job at Dinç İnteraktif around 2000.
I acted and performed puppetry in productions including Kral Yolu II, Medea and the blacklight puppet-theatre work Büyücü.
The links used throughout my account are collected again here by category. Original publication titles are retained; publication and upload dates may differ from event dates.
Designer, Artist, Educator.
Bager Akbay is a designer, artist and educator, and the storyteller of Robot Poet Deniz Yılmaz. His work has appeared at festivals including Ars Electronica and TodaysArt, and he has participated as a panelist at Transmediale. He is a co-author of Scratch programming books for children, a co-founder of İskele47 and a co-curator of Istanbul Maker Faire. He is a member of Amber Platform’s association, which works in art and technology, and Başka Bir Okul Mümkün, which supports participatory, peaceful learning communities. He has taught contemporary art, new media art and programming for theatre and puppetry students at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Marmara University and the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. He makes Sanat Sohbetleri with İlker Canikligil on FLU TV and advises Paribu Studio.
Please credit Şeref Yılmaz when using either photograph.
For press enquiries: bagerakbay@gmail.com