School

Start with who
you want to become.

Private 1-on-1 sessions and small-team learning — both designed around identity, not subjects. No prior experience required.

Explore formats → Student stories
The approach

Antidisciplinary learning, built around a future self.

At artineer, we believe the best way to learn biology is to want to be a biologist. The best way to learn to code is to need code to build something you care about.

Every session begins with a question: Who do you want to become? From there, we build a curriculum around that identity — drawing from art, technology, biology, engineering, and design as the work demands.

No prerequisites. No fixed syllabus. Just a future self to grow into.

China Academy of Art workshop — Design in Service of Livelihoods, Hangzhou 2024
Learning formats

One learner or a small team —
identity leads either way.

Both formats share the same antidisciplinary philosophy. Choose what fits your learning style.

1-on-1

Solo learning

Fully personalized — every session is designed around one learner's chosen identity, curiosity, and pace. The deepest possible focus.

  • One instructor, one learner per session
  • Identity-first curriculum built for you
  • Flexible pacing — follow your curiosity
  • Portfolio of projects that show your becoming
  • Teens to adults, all backgrounds welcome
✦ Team · 3–4 people

Team learning

A small team pursues a shared project — friends, siblings, or classmates who want to build something together at the intersection of art and technology.

  • 3–4 learners per team, one shared mission
  • Collaborative project with real deliverables
  • Roles emerge from each person's strengths
  • Cross-disciplinary team dynamics
  • Group exhibition or showcase at completion

What a team project looks like

Teams pick a shared theme — "urban ecology," "living machines," "sound as data" — and over 6–10 sessions build a project that crosses as many disciplines as the idea demands. Every team member takes ownership of a domain. Every session integrates their work.

Session length

90–120 min per team session

Team size

3 to 4 learners max

Outcome

One shared project + individual roles

Best for

Friends, siblings, small school cohorts

Example identities

Start with a future self.

Choose an identity — or invent one. Everything else follows from there.

The Biologist

Culture microorganisms. Design experiments. Learn to see patterns in living systems. Build a bio-art project.

Mycology Data viz Lab skills

The AI Engineer

Train neural networks. Visualize how AI learns. Build tools that generate art, music, or motion from data.

Machine learning Python Creative AI

The Urban Designer

Simulate cities. Design public space. Learn systems thinking through the lens of built environments.

Systems thinking Simulation Design

The Space Explorer

Model orbital mechanics. Design life-support systems. Build and test physical prototypes for extreme environments.

Physics Prototyping Systems

The Sound Artist

Code generative music. Build electronic instruments. Explore how physical properties shape sound.

Creative coding Electronics Acoustics

The Living Systems Designer

Design with living materials. Grow and fabricate with organisms. Learn material science through biological lenses.

Bio-art Material design Computation
How it works

Three stages.
One evolving identity.

Each learner moves through their own version of these stages at their own pace — guided by curiosity, not a clock.

01

Choose a future identity

In the first session, we explore together: who do you want to become? What worlds fascinate you? The answer becomes the foundation of your curriculum.

02

Follow real-world missions

Each session is built around a mission — a real challenge from your chosen field. You learn what you need to solve it, nothing extra.

03

Build a portfolio of becoming

Projects accumulate into a portfolio that shows not what you studied, but what you built, explored, and discovered along the way.

artineer workshop session — antidisciplinary education methodology
Student stories

What becoming looks like.

Every learner takes a different path. Here are some of theirs — many of them applying abroad. If that's you, see our art study abroad, portfolio, and application mentorship.

artineer student Eliana — Physics & Optics M.S., Tsinghua, SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 co-author
Physics & Optics M.S. → Media Artist

"I had a physics master's degree and still didn't know what I wanted to make. artineer helped me realize I'd been a media artist all along — I just needed someone to help me see it."

A physics and optics graduate from Tsinghua University, she knew she was drawn to media art but couldn't bridge the gap from science to creative practice. Through 1-on-1 mentoring, we helped her explore and articulate her identity as a media artist. She joined Tsinghua University's Future Lab and published research in artificial life and AI game design at SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 Art Papers.

Outcome
Tsinghua Future Lab · SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 Art Papers
Artificial Life AI Gaming SIGGRAPH 2025
artineer student — Digital Media & Architecture M.S., Venice Biennale exhibitor, UC Berkeley admit
Digital Media · Architecture M.S. → Robotics Researcher

"I had two degrees in two different fields and felt more lost than ever. artineer helped me figure out that what I actually loved — agricultural AI robotics — had been there the whole time."

With a background in digital media and an architecture master's degree, she came to us feeling directionless. Her work had already been exhibited at the Venice Biennale, yet she struggled to connect that creative voice to a research direction. Through identity-first sessions, we helped her map her curiosity onto a clear path: agricultural AI and robotics. We also guided her thesis to publication at SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 Art Papers. She is now headed to UC Berkeley for a second master's degree — and was also accepted to Carnegie Mellon, Columbia University, and RISD.

Outcome
Venice Biennale · SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 · UC Berkeley M.S. · CMU · Columbia · RISD
Agricultural Robotics Venice Biennale SIGGRAPH 2025 UC Berkeley
artineer student — Journalism to HCI researcher, Xinhua News Agency, Brown University + RISD
Journalism B.A. · Xinhua News Agency → HCI Design Researcher

"I'd paid for mentors before and left every session more confused than when I arrived. artineer was the first time someone actually understood what I was trying to become — and showed me how to get there."

A journalism undergraduate and former intern journalist at Xinhua News Agency, she wanted to pivot into human-computer interaction design engineering research but had tried other mentors and found them unable to bridge her background with her ambitions. Discouraged but persistent, she found artineer. We helped her enter Tsinghua University's Future Lab, where she conducts HCI and autonomous driving research. She is now heading to Brown University and RISD to pursue a dual master's degree in design engineering.

Outcome
Tsinghua Future Lab · Brown University + RISD Dual M.S.
HCI Research Autonomous Driving Brown × RISD
Currently working with
artineer student — ACCD Illustration, CHI 2026 co-author, AI pet tech product designer
Illustration B.A. · ACCD → HCI · Product Design

An ArtCenter College of Design illustration student in California, she was drawn to AI and design but couldn't locate her intersection. We guided her transition into HCI research and product design — she entered Tsinghua University's Future Lab and co-authored a paper at CHI 2026. She is now a product design intern at an AI pet consumer electronics company in Shanghai, and we are coaching her on kitchen IoT and pet emotion computing projects.

In Progress
CHI 2026 Co-author · Tsinghua Future Lab · AI Pet Tech Internship
HCI Research IoT · Pet Computing CHI 2026
Supply Chain Mgmt · SCUT → Design Innovation

A South China University of Technology supply chain management graduate, her family's food industry background sparked a deep interest in food engineering and health. She dreams of transforming the industry through design thinking — but lacked a design portfolio and had seen a previous application to a design programme fail. We are now guiding her transition, building both the vision and the body of work she needs.

In Progress
Food Innovation · Design Transition · Portfolio in Development
Food Engineering Design Thinking Health Tech
Chinese Painting · XMU → HKU → Digital Media Artist

With a Chinese painting undergraduate degree from Xiamen University and a Creative Communications master's from the University of Hong Kong, she aspires to become an independent digital media artist rooted in traditional culture research. Despite her rich artistic foundation, she lacked the technical grounding and academic research skills to position her work within the tech-art field. We helped her close those gaps — she has now entered Tsinghua University's Future Lab, where she is developing a practice that reimagines AI through the philosophical lens of the I Ching.

In Progress
Tsinghua Future Lab · AI × I Ching · Traditional Culture
Tsinghua Future Lab Traditional Culture AI × Philosophy
Graphic Design B.A. · Shandong → Full-stack HCI Designer

A graphic design undergraduate at an arts-focused institution in Shandong, she has strong visual instincts and a genuine interest in human-computer interaction — but her art school environment offered little exposure to engineering or technical problem-solving. We are bridging that gap, building her engineering capability alongside her existing visual strengths — she has now entered Tsinghua University's Future Lab, and we are developing her into a full-stack HCI product designer.

In Progress
Tsinghua Future Lab · HCI · Visual × Technical Integration
Tsinghua Future Lab Graphic Design HCI

More student stories coming.

Proven in practice

A methodology tested in real classrooms.

artineer began as an experimental studio in 2023 and established its first formal school cohort in 2024. The approach has been refined through sustained, high-frequency 1-on-1 mentorship — not short workshops.

2023
Year founded
First school cohort in 2024
2
Graduated cohorts
10+
Long-term students
1-on-1 guidance · 1–2 year cycles
Subject areas

No discipline walls.
Everything blends.

We don't teach subjects — we draw from them as the work demands. Here's what shows up most often.

Electronics & Physical Computing

Sensors, microcontrollers, circuits, and responsive systems.

Creative Coding

p5.js, Python, Processing — code as a creative medium.

Biology & Mycology

Living systems, fungal cultures, cellular behavior, microbiology.

Art & Generative Design

Algorithmic aesthetics, digital fabrication, visual systems.

AI & Machine Learning

Neural networks, training, creative AI applications.

Mechanical Engineering

CNC, laser cutting, 3D printing, mechanism design.

Interactive Systems

Sensors, feedback loops, human-machine interfaces.

Systems Thinking

Complex systems, emergence, modeling, simulation.

Who it's for

For anyone ready to become.

Teens (13–18)

Deeper project work, portfolio building, and genuine research. Sessions prepare for academic or maker milestones.

Adults & Lifelong learners

Career changers, artists entering tech, engineers entering art. No age limit on becoming someone new.

Begin

Start with who you want to become.

Book a first session — 1-on-1 or with a team. We'll take it from there.

Book a session → Learn about artineer