Ryuta Aoki

Artist / Artistic Director

Ryuta Aoki

Current Positions

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[email protected]
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Ryuta Aoki is a Japanese artist and artistic director based in Tokyo. Working with quantum computation, artificial life and ecosystems, technologies of collective decision-making, and the way of tea, he examines how seemingly neutral systems shape what can be perceived, decided, shared, and made possible. His work ranges from large-scale installations and computational systems to communities and organisations themselves.

His work has been presented at MUTEK.JP, 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, DESIGNART, the Asia Culture Center in South Korea, the Quantum Art Festival, Science Gallery Melbourne in Australia, and the Nam June Paik Art Center in South Korea. Bio Sculpture received the Social Impact Award (Minister of Education Prize) in the Art Division of the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival.

He has been selected for the ACC CREATORS Residency at the Asia Culture Center (ACC), the Ethereum Foundation’s first artist scholarship (Devcon 7 Scholars Program), and the inaugural cohort of WAN: Art & Tech Creators Global Network. He launched Japan’s first TEDxKids programme and its first art hackathon, Art Hack Day, and has served as Creative Producer of the Japan Media Arts Distributed Museum, Artistic Director of the exhibition Jack into the Noösphere, and Director of the international conference ALIFE 2018.

In 2026, he co-founded SHUHALLY, an artist-led international art & science institution, where he serves as CEO and artistic director.

Artist Statement

As a child, after hours of music videos, I once watched a pink piano drift slowly across the living-room ceiling. Since then I have known the wall between the real and the imagined is thinner than the world insists. I grew up in Tokyo, moving from place to place, and each place had its own kuuki—a pressure no one names yet everyone obeys, deciding who falls silent, who acts first, and, larger still, what is even allowed to exist. The world we have is only one of countless worlds that could have come to pass, yet it wears the face of the one and only reality.

So I do not argue that the world could be otherwise. I build a working piece of another world and set it down where you can walk around it. I am drawn to the structures that become invisible precisely because we live inside them: the ways we calculate, decide together, shape who technology is for, and make shared worlds real. They often appear natural or neutral only because they have become ordinary.

I treat these conditions as material. By shifting a rule, a protocol, a context, or who is allowed to act, I try to open a space in which something else can emerge. I prepare the conditions, then let what I did not place arrive.

Biography

Born in Tokyo, Ryuta Aoki grew up outside the formal education system from around the age of nine. Amid frequent moves, he spent a couple of years in Australia and New Zealand. He taught himself to program and, in 1999, co-founded a technology startup in Japan with friends. Over the following decade, he worked in embedded operating systems, middleware, and high-performance computing, as both an engineer and director.

In 2009, Aoki was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery and radiotherapy. During his treatment, a wish took shape: to pass on to children the fascination of the world outside school, as the Discovery Channel and MTV had once done for him. The death of a close friend by suicide soon afterwards, together with his own illness, brought home how near death could be and prompted him to act on that wish. After his treatment succeeded, he joined TEDxTokyo as a volunteer in 2010.

In 2011, he launched Japan’s first TEDxKids programme, running it with more than 100 volunteers. The way its community was built was recognised by TED as a Best Practice. That same year, he founded VOLOCITEE as a base for the projects, organisations, and places that followed.

In 2014, together with 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Aoki founded 3331α, a studio exploring the meeting of artistic expression and technology. There he launched Art Hack Day, Japan’s first art hackathon. The programme gave rise to more than 70 artist collectives, many of which continued beyond Art Hack Day and were invited to art festivals and exhibitions in Japan and abroad, with some receiving the Excellence Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival.

His practice subsequently expanded across cultural and scientific inquiry. Through participants in Art Hack Day, Aoki met tea master Soryo Matsumura. In 2016, he co-founded The TEA-ROOM with Matsumura, wagashi artist Shiho Sakamoto, and the Art Hack Day participants who had introduced him to Matsumura. The artist collective explores how the spirit and philosophy of the way of tea might operate in the present. In 2019, with Matsumura and Sakamoto, he co-founded Mucha-Kucha Inc., a management company for artists working with the way of tea.

In parallel, his engagement with artificial life began in 2016, when he co-founded ALIFE Lab., a community for artificial-life research, with Takashi Ikegami and Mizuki Oka. In 2017, again with Ikegami and Oka, he co-founded ALTERNATIVE MACHINE, a deep-tech company applying artificial-life research to society. In 2018, he served as Director of ALIFE 2018, the first joint international conference following the merger of the European and American artificial-life societies.

Also in 2018, prompted by preparations for the thirtieth anniversary of Makuhari Messe, Aoki launched METACITY, initially as a research collective exploring possible urban futures. It later developed into a platform for artistic R&D with researchers, universities, companies, and cultural institutions, including the MIT Media Lab and Keio University SFC. Many of the collaborations, exhibitions, and works that came to define his practice grew out of this environment. Together, these initiatives formed the ground from which his own artistic practice increasingly emerged.

From around 2019, Aoki began developing works of his own alongside building places and organisations. His practice now unfolds across four interconnected strands—Cosmologies of Calculation, Technology for Multi-Species, Consensus Machines, and Mechanisms of Fiction—making otherwise invisible conditions tangible through functioning systems, installations, and environments.

In 2026, his solo exhibition Alternative Computations — Worlds Otherwise Calculated was held at Spiral Garden in Tokyo as a special exhibition of the Quantum Art Festival, drawing more than 4,500 visitors over four days. A video work from the series was also presented in The Bright Rainbow Dots, an exhibition of the inaugural Nam June Paik Media Art Festival in South Korea.

Alongside his artistic practice, Aoki has continued to work as an artistic director and curator. He served as Creative Producer for the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Japan Media Arts Distributed Museum and as Artistic Director of Jack into the Noösphere, the central exhibition of the first Chiba City Festival of Arts. In 2022, he contributed to the conceptual design of the international festival and ecosystem envisioned to succeed the Japan Media Arts Festival.

His awards, selections, fellowships, and residencies include the Salzburg Global Seminar Fellowship; the Public Prize at the WIRED Creative Hack Award 2021; the Social Impact Award (Minister of Education Prize) in the Art Division of the 25th Japan Media Arts Festival for Bio Sculpture; the ACC CREATORS Residency at the Asia Culture Center in South Korea; the Ethereum Foundation’s first artist scholarship, the Devcon 7 Scholars Program; the inaugural cohort of WAN: Art & Tech Creators Global Network; and selection as a finalist in the Legacy Futures and Experiential Innovation categories of The Lumen Prize 2026.

In 2026, Aoki co-founded SHUHALLY with Matsumura, with whom he had worked for more than a decade through The TEA-ROOM and Mucha-Kucha. An artist-led international art & science institution, SHUHALLY brings together his long-standing work across artistic practice, cultural research, technology, and institution-building. He serves as its CEO and artistic director, extending his practice beyond individual works towards creating the conditions in which artists, researchers, craftspeople, and other practitioners can work together and explore worlds otherwise.

Curriculum Vitae

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2026 Alternative Computations — Worlds Otherwise Calculated, Quantum Art Festival Special Exhibition, Japan
  • 2020 Exhibition: Multi-Layered City Makuhari, Chiba City, Japan

Group Exhibitions

  • 2026 Digital Art Screening: The 2026 Lumen Prize, V&A South Kensington, London, United Kingdom
  • The Bright Rainbow Dots, The 1st Nam June Paik Media Art Festival, Nam June Paik Art Center, South Korea
  • Patch Notes That Refuse a Settled World, Stack × Goethe-Institut Thailand, Bangkok, Thailand
  • EMERGENCE[Y], Science Gallery Melbourne, Australia
  • 2024 AI · Human · Multiverse, Asia Culture Center, South Korea
  • Trusting the Unseen, Ethereum Foundation, Thailand
  • Reframing Exhibition, DESIGNART 2024, Tokyo, Japan
  • 2022 25th Japan Media Arts Festival Exhibition of Award-winning Works, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan
  • 2021 2121 Futures In-Sight, 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, Japan
  • Ars Electronica 2021 Garden Tokyo, Online
  • Chiba City Festival of Arts, Japan
  • ART for SDGs: Kitakyushu Art Festival Imagining Our Future, Kitakyushu City, Japan
  • 2020 Next World ExhiVision x 23rd Japan Media Arts Festival, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan
  • Japan Media Arts Distributed Museum, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan
  • 2019 MUTEK.jp 2019, Japan

Commissions / Collections

  • 2026 SOTOROJI #6, DENSO Advanced Research and Innovation Center, Japan
  • SOTOROJI #5, DENSO Advanced Research and Innovation Center, Japan
  • 2025 SOTOROJI #4, DENSO Advanced Research and Innovation Center, Japan
  • 2021 Bio Sculpture, Kitakyushu City, KIGS, Japan

Awards / Fellowships / Residencies

A = Award / P = Program (Fellowship / Residency / Scholarship) / F = Fellow / S = Selection

  • 2026 S The Lumen Prize, Finalist in Legacy Futures and Experiential Innovation — Alternative Computations — Worlds Otherwise Calculated
  • 2025 P WAN: Art & Tech Creators Global Network, Selected Creator, Inaugural Cohort (Agency for Cultural Affairs, New York, USA)
  • 2024 P Devcon 7 Scholars Program, Artists and Writers Cohort (Ethereum Foundation, Bangkok, Thailand)
  • P ACC CREATORS Residency 2024 (Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, South Korea)
  • P Curatorial Research Program (Lithuanian Culture Institute, Vilnius/Kaunas, Lithuania)
  • 2023 F MOTION GALLERY Fellow
  • 2022 A 25th Japan Media Arts Festival, Art Division, Social Impact Prize — Bio Sculpture
  • 2021 A WIRED Creative Hack Award 2021, Public Prize — Bio Sculpture
  • S WIRED Creative Hack Award 2021, Finalist — Artificial Moons
  • 2017 F Salzburg Global Seminar Fellow
  • 2015 S Great TEDx Stage Design — TEDxKids@Chiyoda
  • 2012 S Best Practice of TEDx — TEDxKids@Chiyoda
  • S Best Stage Design of TEDx — TEDxKids@Chiyoda

Curatorial Projects

E = Exhibition / P = Performance / C = Concept Design / A = Award

  • 2026 E Alternative Computations — Worlds Otherwise Calculated (Quantum Art Festival | 29 Jan - 1 Feb)
  • 2025 P STACK TOKYO (WPÜ HOTEL | 11 Sep)
  • 2024 E Reframing — Official Exhibition of DESIGNART 2024 (DESIGNART | 18–27 Oct)
  • 2022 C Basic concept design for the international festival & ecosystem that will succeed the Japan Media Arts Festival (Agency for Cultural Affairs | Sep 2022 – Mar 2023)
  • 2021 E Exhibition: Jack into the Noösphere — Chiba City Festival of Arts (Chiba City | Jul – Aug)
  • P UCHIROJI #0 (Mihama-en | Jul – Aug)
  • 2020 E Exhibition: Multi-Layered City Makuhari (Chiba City | Dec 2020 – Jan 2021)
  • E Japan Media Arts Distributed Museum — airport editions: Centrair / Naha / Fukuoka (Agency for Cultural Affairs | Feb–Mar)
  • 2018 A ALIFE Art Award 2018 (Miraikan | 14 May – 25 Jul)
  • E ALIFE Art Award Exhibition "Being There" (ALIFE 2018 | Jul)
  • P Shipboard Tea Ceremony (Mar)
  • E Art Hack Day Exhibition 2018 "Being There" (Miraikan | Mar)
  • 2016 E Art Hack Day Exhibition 2016 "Technology as Organism" (Nov)
  • P Glowing Tea Ceremony (Sanrio Puroland | Oct)
  • P Sound Tea Ceremony (TAICOCLUB | Jun)
  • 2015 E 3331α Art Hack Day Exhibition 2015 (3331 Arts Chiyoda | Sep)
  • 2014 E Art Hack Night 2014 (Loftwork | Sep)
  • E 3331α Art Hack Day Exhibition 2014 (3331 Arts Chiyoda | Sep)
  • 2012 E Exhibition: Design to Change the World — Trans Arts Tokyo (3331 Arts Chiyoda | Sep – Oct)

Conferences & Workshops

C = Conference / W = Workshop / SF = Sci-Fi Prototyping

  • 2024 SF Sci-Fi Manga Design Research for Quantum Computing
  • C Creative Futurists Initiative (University of Tokyo | 22 Feb)
  • 2021 SF Civic Vision Sci-Fi Workshop
  • 2020 C Exhibition: Multi-Layered City Makuhari (DOMMUNE | 30 Dec)
  • 2019 W Future+Design for ALIFE research Vol.2
  • SF Sci-Fi Manga Design Research for ALIFE research
  • C METACITY CONFERENCE 2019 (Makuhari Messe | 18 – 19 Jan)
  • 2018 C International Conference ALIFE 2018 (Miraikan | 23 Jul)
  • W ALIFE for Kids | Future Biology for kids
  • W Art Hack Day 2018
  • W Future+Design for ALIFE research Vol.1
  • 2017 W Kogei (Craft) Hackathon
  • C Generative Ethics and Society (University of Tokyo | 13 May)
  • SF School for ALIFE
  • 2016 W 3331α Art Hack Day 2016
  • C COI 2021 Conference (Youth Education National Olympics Memorial Youth Center | 29 – 30 Jan)
  • 2015 W KENPOKU Art Hack Day — a social programme of KENPOKU ART
  • W LED Bulb Speaker Ideathon
  • W 3331α Art Hack Day 2015
  • 2014 C TEDxKids@Chiyoda 2014 (3331 Arts Chiyoda | 30 Nov)
  • W 3331α Art Hack Day 2014
  • 2013 C TEDxKids@Chiyoda 2013 (3331 Arts Chiyoda | 4 Nov)
  • 2012 C TEDxKids@Chiyoda 2012 (3331 Arts Chiyoda | 28 Oct)
  • 2011 C TEDxKids@Tokyo 2011 (CARATO71 | 1 Oct)
  • 2010 C TEDxTokyo yz 2010 Theater (Timeout Cafe | 17 Nov)

Research Projects

C = Collaborative / D = Development

  • 2020–2021 C New Rousseau Machine R&D (MIT Media Lab City Science Group + METACITY)
  • 2019–2022 C Bio Sculpture R&D (Keio University SFC Hiroya Tanaka Lab + METACITY)
  • C Acoustic Niche Hypothesis R&D (ISID + ALIFE Lab)
  • 2019–2020 D Software for android Alter 3 (ALTERNATIVE MACHINE)
  • 2018–2021 C Research on Flourishing Mind (JT + ALTERNATIVE MACHINE)
  • 2018 C Prototype House Becomes Family (LIFULL + VUILD + ALTERNATIVE MACHINE)
  • 2017–2020 D ALIFE Engine — generative dynamics engine (ALTERNATIVE MACHINE)
  • 2017–2018 C Citizen-cooperative distributed logistics (DENSO + ALTERNATIVE MACHINE)

Venues & Spaces

  • 2018–2021 Nausicaä House — Co-working hub (Shibuya, Tokyo)
  • 2016–2017 Life Space UX Showroom, Sony Building Ginza (Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
  • 2015–2017 3331α Studio — production & event space (Chiyoda, Tokyo)

Publications

S = Scientific Paper / B = Book / A = Article

Talks & Lectures

T = Talk / L = Lecture / W = Workshop

Press

B = Book / C = Catalogue / M = Magazine / P = Newspaper / R = Radio / T = TV / V = Video / W = Web

Jury & Advisory

J = Jury / A = Adviser / Am = Ambassador

Professional Experience

  • 2026– Co-founder & CEO, SHUHALLY
  • 2023 MOTION GALLERY Fellow
  • 2021–2024 Councilor, Tonakaima Research Society
  • 2019– Co-founder & Executive Director, Mucha-Kucha Inc. (served 2019–2021, reappointed in 2025)
  • 2018–2026 Co-founder & Representative Director, METACITY (incorporated as METACITY Council in 2020, restructured into SHUHALLY in 2026)
  • 2017–2020 Co-founder & CEO, ALTERNATIVE MACHINE Inc.
  • 2017 Salzburg Global Seminar Fellow
  • 2016–2023 Co-founder & Representative Director, ALIFE Lab. (incorporated in 2019; operations transferred to ALTERNATIVE MACHINE in 2023)
  • 2016–2017 Co-founder & Artistic Director, TAICO Lab. (co-founded with TAICOCLUB)
  • 2016– Co-founder & Artistic Director, The TEA-ROOM
  • 2014–2018 Founder & Artistic Director, ArtHackDay.jp (held as 3331α Art Hack Day from 2014 to 2016)
  • 2014–2017 Co-founder & Artistic Director, 3331α (co-founded with 3331 Arts Chiyoda)
  • 2011–2014 Founder & Curator, TEDxKids@Chiyoda (launched in 2011 as TEDxKids@Tokyo, co-hosted with TEDxTokyo)
  • 2011–2026 Founder & CEO, VOLOCITEE Inc. (restructured into SHUHALLY in 2026)
  • 2006–2011 Software Engineer / Director, Fixstars Corporation
  • 2002–2006 Software Engineer, Zentek Technology Japan
  • 1999–2002 Co-founder & Executive Director, Hash System Inc.