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Artist Bio
Scott Kildall creates artwork that transforms hidden data from the natural environment, such as water quality, air quality and plant data into sculptural sound installations. 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.
He has received fellowships, awards and residencies from the SETI Institute, The Bloedel Reserve, Impakt Works, Autodesk, Recology San Francisco, Joshua Tree National Park, Eyebeam Art + Technology Center and more.
Scott Kildall has been working with art + technology + education for over 15 years. He currently is living semi-nomadically and his an art studio in San Francisco.
Artist Statement
I create artwork that transforms hidden biological signals into sound installations and performances. Using custom-built sensors, I capture phenomena beyond human perception such as infrared reflections from plants and bioelectric activity in composting maggots. I then translate this live data into ambient music.
I am fascinated by discoveries in biology, such as plant-signaling mechanisms, mycelium nutrient flows, and magnetoreception in birds. These findings reveal the interconnectedness of ecological systems and reframe what it is to be “intelligent.”
I look at organisms through the lens of Umwelt: the world as experienced through their own senses rather than an anthropocentric viewpoint. For example, bees see vibrant ultraviolet patterns in flowers that guide them to nectar.
My artistic process begins with fieldwork and exploration. Using custom-built sensor kits, I measure signals from plants, microbes, and water. I often find unexpected patterns. For example, bacterial samples I collected at the shores of the Salton Sea produced electrical activity that followed circadian rhythms, with peaks occurring around sunset.
I then translate this live sensor data into musical compositions. Higher sensor readings may generate higher pitches, while data spikes might change which instruments are played. The arrangements continuously transform, creating evolving ambient soundscapes.
In one project, I used reflected infrared light to “play” Joshua Trees like a theremin. Leafy areas produced higher pitches, while bark-like sections generated lower tones.
Recently, I’ve moved beyond traditional gallery spaces and into performing these works in nature, often at art residencies and in collaboration with scientists, museums, and non-profit organizations.
Selected Curriculum Vitae
Residencies
Chlorophyll Arts Lab Residency, London, 2026
Vermont Studio Center Residency, Vermont, 2026
Project Uchi Residency, C, WA 2026
Campbient Residency, Ravensdale, WA 2026
Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts & Agriculture Residency, Sisters, OR 2025
PLAYA Art Residency, Summer Lake, OR 2025
Joshua Tree National Park Residency, 2024
Bloedel Reserve Residency, 2021
Bangkok 1899 Residency, Bangkok 2019
American Arts Incubator Program, ZERO1, Bangkok, Thailand 2017
Water Rights Residency, Santa Fe Art Institute 2017
SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Artist-in-Residency Mountain View, California 2016
Impakt Works Residency, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2014
Creative Code Fellowship, Stamen Design and Gray Area, San Francisco, 2014
Autodesk Residency, San Francisco, 2014
Artist in Residence, Recology, San Francisco, California, 2011
Nominee, Transmediale Award, Berlin, Germany, 2011
Resident Artist, Eyebeam Art and Technology Center, New York, New York, 2009
The Future of Idea Art, Residency at Banff Centre for the Arts, Alberta, Canada, 2006
Kala Fellowship Award, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, California, 2006
Selected Exhibitions
2026
Fungitopia, Heron Arts, San Francisco
Performing with Plants, Occidental, CA (solo performance)
Bacterial Beats, Bombay Beach, CA (solo performance)
2025
Battle of the Bacterial Bands, Summer Lake, OR (solo performance)
Sound of Soil, Pine Meadow Ranch, OR (solo performance)
35th Anniversary Recology AIR, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco
2024
Fungitopia, Four Chicken Gallery, San Francisco (solo show)
Infrared Reflections, Joshua Tree National Park, CA
Bombay Beach Biennale, Bombay Beach, CA
2023
UP Lift, Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, WA
Bombay Beach Biennale, Bombay Beach, CA
2022
Refraction Festival Season 0, Zero Space, Brooklyn, NY
Exotopia, Gray Area, San Francisco, CA
2021
Symphonic Forest, Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, WA (solo, site-specific installation)
2020
Psych Garden, Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria
No-Place Like the Future: Artists Evoke a World after Corona, Austrian Embassy, Virtual Vernissage
Unnatural Language, Bangkok 1899, Bangkok (solo show)
2019
Territorilogy, Black and White Projects, San Francisco (solo show)
Depth, Science Gallery Detroit, Detroit
2018
Currents 2018, Santa Fe, New Mexico
L.A.S.T. Festival, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, CA
2017
River Dreams, Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center, Bangkok, Thailand
Mood Swings, MuseumsQuartier Vienna,Vienna, Austria
2016
Machine Data Dreams, Black and White Projects, San Francisco (solo show)
2015
Disruption, ISEA 2015, Vancouver, Canada
2014
The Soft Machines, Impakt, Utrecht, The Netherlands
2013
The Beyond Category, Subtle Technologies, Toronto
In Search Of…, TSA Gallery, New York
2012
ReGeneration, New York Hall of Science, New York
Tweets in Space, ISEA, Albuquerque, New Mexico
I Am Crime, SOMArts, San Francisco
2011
Wikipedia Art Room, New Forms 11, Vancouver
Made Real, Futherfield Gallery, London
Transmediale.11, Transmediale, Berlin
2010
Retro-Tech, SJ01 Biennial, San Jose Museum of Art and ZER01, San Jose, California
The Science Fair, Flux Factory, Long Island, New York
2009
Wikipedia Art Embassy, The Internet Pavilion, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Transmute, Subtle Technologies, Toronto, Canada
Contemporary Tools, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California
2008
Innovation and Imagination, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
Second Life, Videotage, Hong Kong, China
Close To You, curated by Sarah Quinton, Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto
Mixed Realities, curated by Jo-Anne Greene, Huret & Spector Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
2007
Close to You, curated by Sarah Quinton, Dalhousie Art Gallery, Halifax
Crossing the Void, solo exhibition, Haydn Shaughnessy Gallery, Ireland
Imaginary Souvenirs, solo exhibition, Mission 17, San Francisco, California
Education
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, M.F.A., Art & Technology Studies
Brown University, Bachelor of Arts, Political Philosophy
Entire CV Download
This is a version of my CV that contains a full history of group shows, press and more dating back to 2007
