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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 resides in San Francisco, where he runs a residency program from his home called Xenoform Labs that hosts international new media artists.
Artist Statement
An invisible world of natural data surrounds us. We can’t see, hear, smell or taste it. However, we can measure it with electronic sensors, and reveal its hidden patterns. It appears in forms such as electrochemical activity on plant leaves, water flow within trees, heavy metals in river water and much more. This is a hidden cosmos outside of human perception, full of wonder and delight.
I investigate unseen biological phenomena using custom electronic sensors to measure what’s in the ground, air, water, and outer space. I’m fascinated by the patterns that emerge, and translate this live data into site-specific sculptural soundscapes and performances.
In one recent project, I captured reflected infrared light from Joshua Trees, which I “played” like a theremin by moving my infrared sensor just inches above the plant. My software translated this data into sound, with different pitches indicating the tree’s health. It felt like magic with leafy parts of the plant producing higher-pitched tones, while bark-like areas generated lower ones.
My spring of inspiration is from recent discoveries in biology, such as plant-signaling mechanisms, mycelium nutrient flows and magneto-receptors in birds. These show us the interconnectedness of ecological systems. I am joining the chorus of scientists who are reframing what it is to be “intelligent”.
I look at organisms in terms of their umwelt—the world as experienced through their own senses, rather than through an anthropocentric lens. For example, crickets detect subtle pressure waves in the air to escape predatory spiders, and bees see vibrant ultraviolet patterns in flowers that guide them to nectar.
My process is to approach a natural site with curiosity, and use my sensor kit to measure the actual data, to find what is out there. One intriguing recent finding, for example, comes from microbial samples I took at the Salton Sea. These microbes (purple bacteria) produce electrical activity that corresponds to circadian rhythms, with peaks in output at sunset.
I see my artworks as experiments and prototypes, documenting them through video and performing them for select audiences. Recently, I’ve moved beyond traditional gallery spaces into natural settings, often collaborating with nature-based art residencies, scientists, and emerging organizations.
Selected Curriculum Vitae
This is a list of featured residencies and exhibitions with a full CV download link below, which includes press and a full exhibition/residency list
Residencies
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
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
