Collaborator History:

Margarita Benitez is the Fashion Technologist, TechStyleLAB Faculty Director and a Professor at The Fashion School at Kent State University. Markus Vogl is theFaculty Director of the M-Lab Makerspace and a Professor of Art at The University of Akron. Their collaboration as //benitez_vogl began in the year 2000. Their current research explores 3D printing and transformation of the human form through concepts of biomimicry, 3D printed animal habitats, interactive sound and visual installations and material explorations in digital fabrication.

Their work has been showcased on 6 continents with exhibitions in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania and is held in national and international collections. They have presented their research and work at Shapeshifting in Auckland, New Zealand, the BIFT/ITAA Symposium in Beijing, Digital Fashion, London, South by SouthWest, ISEA,  Open Hardware Summit, Nanyang Tech University, SIGGRAPH, the New Media Art Caucus and at the Design Principles and Practices Conference, Barcelona. 

They received a 2013 NEA Media in Arts Grant for S.A.R.A.: Synesthetic Augmented Reality Application, an open source wearable synesthetic App. Their project S.A.R.A. received the ‘aesthetic design’ jury award at the International Symposium on Wearable Computing 2014 Design Exhibition at Seattle’s EMP and the project versus 0.002[gridiron] an honorable mention at the Innovation By Design, CO.design awards.

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 Universitaet 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 2019 and has been a featured speaker nationally and internationally.