Scott Kildall is a cross-disciplinary artist working with video, installation, prints, sculpture and performance. He gathers material from the public realm as the crux of his artwork in the form of interventions into various concepts of space.
He has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Philosophy from Brown University and a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago through the Art & Technology Studies Department. He has exhibited his work internationally in galleries and museums. He has received fellowships and awards from organizations including the Kala Art Institute, The Banff Centre for the Arts, and Turbulence.org.
How did you decide to pursue a full-time career as an artist?
I am a true generalist and had been juggling many interests for years: producing social justice documentaries, engineering software for educational firms and running a metal sculpture studio. This period was incredibly active but difficult for me to focus on concepts and philosophies.
During the terminal illness of my mother, I realized how what seems certain quickly changes. A constant state of uncertainty was to be embraced rather than battled. Shifting to full-time work as an artist was financially risky but I could continually question precepts rather than close them down. I discovered an integration of ideas, production and socializing in one career and feel incredibly blessed.
How did this lead you to making conceptual media works such as Cat Mouse Trio and After Thought?
Both of these works play with performativity and the uncertainty of meaning.
In Cat Mouse Trio, the viewer watches three videos, each displaying one cameraperson filming another in urban streets. There is no central locus and instead the relations between the participants are what grants meaning to imagery.
After Thought is even more experimental in that I perform personality tests using flashcards and a brainwave-reading device. From these, I produce a unique video portrait of people’s emotional state. The imagery is abstract, comforting and open to interpretation.
In both of these pieces, an active experience of the viewer is central to making them “work” and what the artwork means is highly subjective.
How do you fund your work given the current economy and the idea that there isn't an art object?
I have recently embraced an “under $1000 rule.” I keep the production costs less than this amount unless I have advance funding. I wrestled with this when making Cat Mouse Trio, which was a synchronized 3-channel video installation. This would usually be cost-prohibitive.
After much research, I found three digital picture frames that can synchronize video channels with a single remote. They draw people in, are easy to ship and fulfill the concept behind the work.
This case exemplifies possibilities of experimentation in an uncertain economy — a way to fulfill ideas rather than focus on market sales.
More on Scotts’ projects is available on line http://eyebeam.org/people/scott-kildall
If you were given complete reign to do a project anywhere in the world and without any constraints, what would you do?
I would make an installation that is larger than the world itself. This means finding two points on exact opposite ends of the earth, e.g. New Zealand and Spain, and setting up enormous receptacles on either side. The earth itself would be a medium of change where personal mementos would go through some sort of material transformation to be received on the other side in an altered form.
Scott Kildall’s ‘Cat Mouse Trio’ is currently on display at Ink Art Gallery in NoHo. The artists will be attending the Ink Gallery Holiday Artist Reception, Thurs. Dec. 17th, 7-10pm. For more information visit http://www.inkit.com
