Scott Kildall
Encyclopedia
Scott Kildall is an American conceptual artist working with new technologies in a variety of media including video art
, prints
, sculpture
and performance art
. Kildall works broadly with virtual worlds, networked art and speculative technologies. His work centers on repurposing technology and repackaging information from the public realm into art. He often invites others to participate in the work.
. He graduated with an undergraduate degree in Political Philosophy
from Brown University
in 1991 and received a Master of Fine Arts
through the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Art and Technology Studies department in 2006.
The socio-historical impacts of media play a role in some of his creations. For example, his 2007 piece,“Uncertain Location,” recreates the Apollo 11
lunar landing in response to an announcement by NASA that it was unable to find the original tapes of the event.
In 2008, he was part of the Mixed Realities exhibition in Boston at Huret & Spector Gallery, curated by Jo-Anne Green from Turbulence.org. In the same year, he exhibited "Hand Work", a performance video based on a film by Andy Warhol
at The Textile Museum of Canada
.
Kildall created “After Thought” in 2010, a portable personality testing kit which uses a brainwave-reading headset to test stress and relaxation levels with a customized video for each participant. In 2010, Kildall also created “Playing Duchamp,” a chess computer that plays as if it were French artist Marcel Duchamp
. Kildall used the recorded matches of Duchamp to mimic the artist’s chess style.
. He is a co-founder of the performance art group, Second Front.
His 2006-2007 “Paradise Ahead” print series recreates classic conceptual art
by Yoko Ono
, Vito Acconci
, Bas Jan Ader
and others.
In 2010, as part of his “No Matter” project with Victoria Scott, Kildall produced “Gift Horse,” a 13-foot high replica of the Trojan Horse
. It was built in Second Life and then translated into reality
.
. Kildall produced and edited a number of documentary shorts and a feature length film called “In The Dark.”
created Wikipedia Art, a performance art
piece as a live article on Wikipedia. Site editors quickly concluded that the project violated Wikipedia's rules and opted to delete it 15 hours after it was initially posted. A month later, Kildall and Stern received a letter from a law firm representing the Wikimedia Foundation
, claiming the domain name, wikipediaart.org, infringed on their trademark. The ensuing controversy was reported in the national press. Wikipedia Art has since been included in the Internet Pavilion of the Venice Biennale
for 2009. It also appeared in a revised form at the Transmediale
festival in Berlin in 2011.
Video art
Video art is a type of art which relies on moving pictures and comprises video and/or audio data. . Video art came into existence during the 1960s and 1970s, is still widely practiced and has given rise to the widespread use of video installations...
, prints
Printmaking
Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...
, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
and performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
. Kildall works broadly with virtual worlds, networked art and speculative technologies. His work centers on repurposing technology and repackaging information from the public realm into art. He often invites others to participate in the work.
Early life and education
Scott Kildall is the son of computer innovator Gary KildallGary Kildall
Gary Arlen Kildall was an American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur who created the CP/M operating system and founded Digital Research, Inc....
. He graduated with an undergraduate degree in Political Philosophy
Political philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1991 and received a Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
through the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Art and Technology Studies department in 2006.
Career
From 2006-2008, Kildall produced “Video Portraits,” a video piece where Kildall asks strangers to pose for a photograph but instead shoots video. The purpose was to record the act of constructing a pose for recorded memory. In 2006, Kildall produced Future Memories, a single-channel video work that uses in-between moments from iconic Hollywood movies. The clips are black-and-white with an ambient soundtrack, which result in a feeling of displaced familiarity as the viewer registers the clips on a subconscious level. In 2007, Kildall’s video works were displayed in his first solo show, Imaginary Souvenirs, at Mission 17 gallery in San Francisco.The socio-historical impacts of media play a role in some of his creations. For example, his 2007 piece,“Uncertain Location,” recreates the Apollo 11
Apollo 11
In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...
lunar landing in response to an announcement by NASA that it was unable to find the original tapes of the event.
In 2008, he was part of the Mixed Realities exhibition in Boston at Huret & Spector Gallery, curated by Jo-Anne Green from Turbulence.org. In the same year, he exhibited "Hand Work", a performance video based on a film by Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
at The Textile Museum of Canada
Textile Museum of Canada
The Textile Museum of Canada, located Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is the only Canadian museum dedicated to the collection, exhibition, and documentation of textiles. The museum was founded in 1975 by Max Allen and Simon Waegemaekers.-Collection:...
.
Kildall created “After Thought” in 2010, a portable personality testing kit which uses a brainwave-reading headset to test stress and relaxation levels with a customized video for each participant. In 2010, Kildall also created “Playing Duchamp,” a chess computer that plays as if it were French artist Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp
Marcel Duchamp was a French artist whose work is most often associated with the Dadaist and Surrealist movements. Considered by some to be one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Duchamp's output influenced the development of post-World War I Western art...
. Kildall used the recorded matches of Duchamp to mimic the artist’s chess style.
Kildall and Second Life
Kildall has produced artwork using Second LifeSecond Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
. He is a co-founder of the performance art group, Second Front.
His 2006-2007 “Paradise Ahead” print series recreates classic conceptual art
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
by Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, Vito Acconci
Vito Acconci
Vito Hannibal Acconci is a Bronx, New York-born, Brooklyn-based designer, landscape architect, performance and installation artist.-Education:...
, Bas Jan Ader
Bas Jan Ader
Bas Jan Ader was a Dutch conceptual artist, performance artist, photographer and filmmaker. He lived in Los Angeles for the last 10 years of his life. Ader's work was in many instances presented as photographs and film of his performances...
and others.
In 2010, as part of his “No Matter” project with Victoria Scott, Kildall produced “Gift Horse,” a 13-foot high replica of the Trojan Horse
Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside...
. It was built in Second Life and then translated into reality
Reality
In philosophy, reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible...
.
Video activism
In 1999, along with several others, Kildall founded Sleeping Giant Productions in San Francisco, a video organization dedicated to the production of social justice documentaries, which helped establish the video branch of the Independent Media CenterIndependent Media Center
The Independent Media Center is a global participatory network of journalists that report on political and social issues. It originated during the Seattle anti-WTO protests worldwide in 1999 and remains closely associated with the global justice movement, which criticizes neo-liberalism and its...
. Kildall produced and edited a number of documentary shorts and a feature length film called “In The Dark.”
Wikipedia Art
In February 2009, Kildall and collaborator Nathaniel SternNathaniel Stern
Nathaniel Stern is an interdisciplinary artist who works in a variety of media, including interactive art, public art interventions, installation, video art, net.art and printmaking...
created Wikipedia Art, a performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
piece as a live article on Wikipedia. Site editors quickly concluded that the project violated Wikipedia's rules and opted to delete it 15 hours after it was initially posted. A month later, Kildall and Stern received a letter from a law firm representing the Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is an American non-profit charitable organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, and organized under the laws of the state of Florida, where it was initially based...
, claiming the domain name, wikipediaart.org, infringed on their trademark. The ensuing controversy was reported in the national press. Wikipedia Art has since been included in the Internet Pavilion of the Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
for 2009. It also appeared in a revised form at the Transmediale
Transmediale
transmediale is an annual festival for media art and digital culture taking place for one week in February in Berlin, Germany. The festival engages in reflective, aesthetic and speculative positions in between art, technology and culture...
festival in Berlin in 2011.
External links
- Scott Kildall’s website
- Wikipedia Art web site
- No Matter project website
- KQED Television: Spark Artist Profile (television segment)
- Micaela Gallery (San Francisco)
- Koscielak Gallery (Chicago)
- Second Front blog