Surrounding us is an invisible layer of natural data. We often can’t see, hear, smell or taste it, but it’s there in the form of electrochemical activity in plants, water flow in trees, particulates in the air, pollution in the water and more. I’m fascinated by this unseen macrocosm and my work lifts the veil into this world, using sensors track such live data and translate it into sculptural sound installations that viewers can experience viscerally.
Sculptural Sound Installations
About Scott Kildall
Scott Kildall has been working with art + technology + education for over 15 years. He focuses on transforming data from the natural environment, such as water quality, air quality and plant data into sound installations, sculptures and video works. He uses custom electronics to create generative, data-driven experiences with uncertain outcomes.
His artwork has been exhibited internationally at venues including the New York Hall of Science, Transmediale, the Venice Biennale, the Vancouver Art Gallery and the San Jose Museum of Art. For the last several years, he has worked on developing field installations ranging from the jungles of Panama to the sand dunes of Abu Dhabi to the desert area near the Salton Sea, CA, often deploying work in remote locations with limited resources.
He has received fellowships, awards and residencies from the SETI Institute, Impakt Works, Autodesk, Recology San Francisco, Eyebeam Art + Technology Center and more.
He currently resides in San Francisco, where he runs a residency program from his home called Xenoform Labs that hosts international new media artists.
Twitter: @kildall
Instagram: @kildall
Introducing Catsronauts
/by Scott KildallAs an extension of the Exotopia sci-fi storytelling project, I am presenting a new series called Catsronauts, which are space characters in future narratives. I created them in collaboration with an AI-image generation engine. These are portraits of six of them. Science Officer Paw Paws Catsronauts are certainly playful and cute, playing with the use of […]
Coding Methodologies for New Media Artists
/by Scott KildallIntroduction Last week, I hosted Raunak Singh, as a coder-in-residence, at Xenoform Labs. I normally provide artist-in-residencies for new media artists throughout the year, but Covid torpedoed the program for 2020 and 2021. I am thrilled to be resuming some sort of programming for 2022 and am now experimenting with different models. Raunak is a […]
Climate Change and NFTs
/by Scott KildallNFTs and Climate Change Aren’t NFTs disastrous for the environment? How can I reconcile being an environmentalist with being a proponent of NFTs? There is a path here. Let’s get into it. NFT 101 A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain. NFTs can be used to […]
Symphonic Forest – Pre-installation Walkthrough
/by Scott KildallJust before I showed my new sound installation work, Symphonic Forest, I did this walkthrough at the Bloedel Reserve. This was the sound check before the final installation and I was quite happy with the results. And here are some final pictures of the installation. Their videographer shot some video on the morning […]