Yutaka Makino
Born in Tochigi, Japan, 1976
Lives and works in Berlin, Germany

In his art practice, Makino critically investigates how reality is constructed through technologically mediated perception, questioning the assumptions embedded in habitual modes of experience while embracing uncertainty and foregrounding individual differences in perception. Through installations, performances, and compositions, he constructs situations in which perceptual certainty becomes unstable and perceptual, cognitive, and technical processes interact under controlled yet indeterminate conditions. Drawing on fields such as psychoacoustics, cognitive science, psychophysics, psychiatry, and linguistics, he integrates scientific insight, artistic experimentation, and technological mediation to foster integrative modes of knowledge production.

Makino’s works and performances have been presented internationally at institutions and festivals, including Akademie der Künste, daadgalerie, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Donaueschinger Musiktage, MärzMusik, CTM Festival, Concertgebouw Brugge, Gaudeamus Muziekweek, Festival Archipel, Sonar, Sonic Acts, Japan Society, Issue Project Room, Cafe OTO, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, among others.

He has conducted research projects with institutions including the California Institute of Technology, the Technical University of Berlin, the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and Kyushu University. He has received prizes, fellowships, grants, residencies, and commissions from organizations including the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, Prix Ton Bruynèl, MacDowell, Villa Aurora, the Bernstein Network for Computational Neuroscience, the Schering Foundation, the Berlin Senate, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Pola Art Foundation, among others.

Makino has given talks at Berlin University of the Arts, University of Fine Arts Hamburg, Bernstein Conference, Transmediale, Hasso-Plattner-Institut, University of Cologne, University of Vienna, Royal Conservatoire The Hague, California Institute of Art, Royal Academy of Art The Hague, UCLA, UCSB, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Otis College of Art and Design, City University of Hong Kong, Keio University, Tokyo University of the Arts, among others. He has taught at Tama Art University, Bauhaus University, and Berlin University of the Arts. From 2021 to 2026, he served as an associate professor at the Faculty of Design, Kyushu University.