Collaborator History:

Margarita Benitez and Markus Vogl explore the intersections of technology, the human body, and agency through digital fabrication, biomimetic designs, and interactive installations. As a Professor of Fashion Design at Kent State University, and Professor of Art and the Makerspace Faculty Director at University of Akron, they combine pedagogy, research, and hands-on innovation to reimagine art experiences at the interface of art and emerging technology.
Their exhibitions span six continents, from Museumsquartier Vienna and Otago Museum (NZ) to Cleveland’s CAN Triennial and crafted couture showcases. Recent work includes “Luminous Mechatronics” (Davis Gallery, 2025) and “Crafted Couture: skin d.e.e.p”, demonstrating a commitment to advancing artistic discourse through collaborative creation and experimental practice. Their research is recognized by NEA, and NSF earning honors such as Fulbright residencies devoted to generative public engagement and immersive, technology-driven experiences.

Projects like S.A.R.A.: Synesthetic Augmented Reality Application have received critical jury awards for innovative aesthetic design and community engagement. Their presentations at SIGGRAPH, ISEA, MIT’s Reality Virtually Hackathon, and international design conferences demonstrate dedication to knowledge-sharing and expanding artistic boundaries. By fusing computational design, experimental fabrication, and digital technology, Benitez and Vogl seek to inspire vibrant engagement and foster new ways to experience, design and art and inhabit spaces through innovative art and technology practice.

Individual Biographies:

Margarita Benitez is the Fashion Technologist and an Associate Professor at The Fashion School at Kent State University. She received her MFA in Art + Technology Studies thru a Trustee Scholarship from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
In addition to working with fashion technology and e-textiles, her current research explores digital fabrication in an art and design context. Her work has been exhibited nationally, internationally and is part of museum and private collections. Most recently she presented her work and research at BIFT/ITAA Symposium at Beijing, the New Media Art Caucus Artist showcase at the 100th Annual College Art Association Conference and at the 2012 Smart Fabrics Conference. She received a 2012 NEA Artworks Grant for co-curating the exhibition Shifting Paradigms of Identity: Creative Technology and Fashion and a 2012 NEA Media in Arts Grant for S.A.R.A.: Synesthetic Augmented Reality Application, a wearable synesthetic performance device. She was the Fulbright-Quartier21/MuseumsQuartier
Artist-in-Residence for 2012-2013 in Vienna for the project open thread : wien.

Markus Vogl is a Professor of Art at the Myers School of Art at the University of Akron and a NE Ohio based multimedia artist experimenting in multiple sensory experiences combining sound, environments and interactive installation. He holds a Masters of Fine Art degree in New Media from Donau Universität Krems/transart institute and has over 30 years of experience in the field.
Originally from Salzburg, Austria he has exhibited internationally in the U.S., Asia, Europe and Australia. He has been recognized in Leonardo magazine for his collaboration Circadian Capital. He has received a 2013 NEA Media in Arts Grant for S.A.R.A.: Synesthetic Augmented Reality Application, a wearable synesthetic performance device. S.A.R.A. has been shown at ingenuityfest, Collider, the Cleveland Public Theater, the Academy of Visual Arts in Hongkong and Nanyang University Singapore.
He has presented papers at the Shapeshifting conference in Auckland, New Zealand, the New Media Art Caucus Artist showcases during the Annual College Art Association Conference, South by SouthWest Austin, Texas, Digital Fashion, London, Computers and the History of Art conference, London and the BIFT/ITAA research Symposium at Beijing. He is the Fulbright recipient and Artist in Residence at museumsquartier, Vienna in Spring 2018 and has been a featured speaker nationally and internationally.