Ned Kahn Explained

Ned Kahn
Alma Mater:	University of Connecticut

Ned Kahn is an environmental artist and sculptor, known in particular for museum exhibits, one of which is the Exploratorium in San Francisco. His work usually intends to make an invisible aspect of nature, visible.

Early life

Kahn was born in New York City and raised in Stamford, Connecticut.^[1] At the age of 10, he staged his first exhibition of sculptures fashioned from salvaged junkyard items, where his mother had taken him.^[2]

After graduating with a degree in botany and environmental science from the University of Connecticut, in 1982, Kahn moved to San Francisco, where he was fascinated by the Exploratorium.^[3] He worked there from 1982 to 1996 under the tutelage of the museum's founder, Frank Oppenheimer.^[4] In 2001, Kahn became the artist in residence at the Headlands Center for the Arts.

Kahn moved from San Francisco to Graton, California^[4] in 1998 and works from the Ned Kahn Studios in Sebastopol.^[5] He is married and has two children. Kahn cites his daily meditation routine as key to his artistic development.^[2]

Awards

Kahn won a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" fellowship in 2003,^{[6] [7]} and the National Design Award for landscape architecture in 2005.^{[8] [9]}

Works

Some examples of Kahn's work to capture the invisible include building facades that move in waves in response to wind; indoor tornadoes and vortices made of fog, steam, or fire; and a transparent sphere containing water and sand which, when spun, erodes a beach-like ripple pattern into the sand surface. In 2003 Kahn collaborated with Koning Eizenberg Architecture, Inc. on Articulated Cloud, a piece installed on the exterior walls of the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh consisting of hundreds of movable flaps that respond to the wind creating visible patterns.

His work is in the collection of di Rosa, Napa.^[10]

Selected works by Ned Kahn^[11]

Title	Image<	--Please try to keep the image to within a 100px by 100px size. Size stated is the width in pixels, so if the image is upright, use the formula W = (width) × 100px ÷ (height).-->	Element	Location	City	State/ Country	Year	Notes	Refs.
Aeolian Landscape		Sand	Museum of Life and Science	Durham	North Carolina	1993	Also on exhibit at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.	^[12]
Articulated Cloud		Wind	Children's Museum of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	2004	Collaboration with Konig/Eizenberg	^[13] ^[14]
Avalanche		Sand	Children's Museum of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	2011	A similar piece named Negev Wheel has been exhibited at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.	^[15]
Braided Stream		Wind	Exploratorium	San Francisco	California			^[16]
Breathing Sky		Fog	Yerba Buena Center for the Arts	San Francisco	California	1995
Bus Jet Fountain		Water	Salesforce Transit Center	San Francisco	California	2018		^[17]
Chain of Ether		Wind	ResMed Corporation	San Diego	California	2009		^[18]
Chaotic Pendulum			Exploratorium	San Francisco	California			^[19]
Circadian Wind		Wind	Circa Parking Deck	Los Angeles	California	2019
Circular Wave Umbrella		Wind	Exploratorium	San Francisco	California			^[20]
Cloud Arbor		Fog	Buhl Community Park	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	2012	Collaboration with Andi Cochran
Cloud Portal		Fog	Davis Court	San Francisco	California	2011	Collaboration with RHAA	^[21]
Cloud Rings		Fog	21c Museum Hotel Louisville	Louisville	Kentucky	2006	An installation with the same name is on exhibit at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.	^[22] ^[23]
Cloud Vessel		Fog	The Docks	Sacramento	California	2010	Collaboration with Walker Macy	^[24] ^[25]
Digitized Field		Wind	AT&T Building	Santa Rosa	California	2004		^[26] ^[27] ^[28]
Divided Sea		Water	Emerald Glen Park	Dublin	California	2004		^[29] ^[30]
Duales Systems Pavilion		Fog	Expo 2000	Hanover	Germany	2000	Collaboration with Uwe Bruckner
Enagua		Wind	Playa Vista	Los Angeles	California	2015	Collaboration with Johnson/Fain	^[31]
Encircled Cloud		Fog	Paradise Ridge Winery and Sculpture Garden	Santa Rosa	California	2012
Encircled Stream		Water	Founders Court Seattle Center	Seattle	Washington	1995	Collaboration with Atelier Landscape Architects
Encircled Void		Wind	Bertolini Student Center Santa Rosa Junior College	Santa Rosa	California	2010
Erratic Fence		Wind	Sonoma County Museum	Santa Rosa	California	2015	Collaboration with Jensen Architects
Feather Wall		Wind	Robert B. Green Clinical Pavilion	San Antonio	Texas	2012	Collaboration with Overland Partners and RTKL
Field of Air		Wind	Denver International Airport between Jeppesen Terminal and Westin Hotel	Denver	Colorado	2015	Collaboration with Gensler	^[32] ^[33]
Fire Vortex		Fire/Light	Technorama	Winterthur	Switzerland	1997
Firefly		Fire/Light	San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Civic Center	San Francisco	California	2012		^[34] ^[35]
Fluvial Storm		Sand	Exploratorium	San Francisco	California	1990
Glacial Facade		Fire/Light	Issaquah Highlands Park and Ride	Issaquah	Washington	2006
Greenhouse Project		Fire/Light	San Francisco County Jail 3	San Bruno	California	1990
Hidden Sea		Wind	Ceatrice Polite Apartments	San Francisco	California	2000		^[36]
Hyperbolic Paraboloid		Wind	Crossroads School	Santa Monica	California	2015	Collaboration with Fred Fisher
Liquid Pixels		Wind	Rosslyn 1801 N Lynn St	Arlington	Virginia	2002
Magnetic Field Stone		Sand	Exploratorium	San Francisco	California	1996
Mare Undurum		Fire/Light	Tempe Center for the Arts	Tempe	Arizona	2008
Microturbines		Wind	Santa Rosa Junior College	Santa Rosa	California	2009
Net of Indra		Fire/Light	Automated Garage at City Hall	West Hollywood	California		Collaboration with Rick D'Amato
Pebble Chime		Sand	Discovery World Pier Wisconsin	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	2006
Pedibrion Falls		Water	21c Museum Hotel Durham	Durham	North Carolina	2015
Prairie Tree		Wind	Nicollet Mall	Minneapolis	Minnesota	2017		^[37]
Prism Tunnel		Fire/Light	Children's Garden Huntington Library Gardens	San Marino	California	2004
Project Lions		Wind	Debenhams flagship Oxford Street	London	England	2014	Collaboration with Archial Architects
Quantum Wave		Water	ATF Headquarters	Washington	District of Columbia	2008
Rain Oculus		Water	Marina Bay Sands		Singapore	2011	Collaboration with Moshe Safdie	^[38]
Rain Portal		Water	San Francisco Public Utilities Commission	San Francisco	California	2012	Deaccessioned in 2018 due to persistent leakage.	^[39] ^[40]
Rainbow Arbor		Fog	Skirball Cultural Center	Los Angeles	California	2008	Collaboration with Moshe Safdie	^[41]
Rift Zone		Sand	Exploratorium	San Francisco	California			^[42]
Seismic Sea		Water	Pasadena Museum of California Art	Pasadena	California	2009
Sonic Pool		Water	Children's Garden Huntington Library Gardens	San Marino	California	2004
Sonic Range		Sand	Exploratorium	San Francisco	California	1992		^[43]
Spoonfall		Water	H2 Hotel	Healdsburg	California	2010
Subducted Landscapes		Sand	Chevron Texaco Headquarters	San Ramon	California	2002
Technorama Facade		Wind	Technorama The Swiss Science Center	Winterthur	Switzerland	2002
Tipping Wall		Water	Marina Bay Sands		Singapore	2011	Collaboration with Moshe Safdie
Tornado		Fog	World Financial Center Battery Park City	New York	New York	1990	Also on exhibit at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.	^[44] ^[45]
Turbulent Line		Wind	Brisbane Airport	Brisbane	Australia	2012	Collaboration with UAP
Turbulent Orb		Water	World Financial Center Battery Park City	New York	New York	1990	Also on exhibit at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.	^[46]
Turbulent Shade		Wind	City Hall	Chandler	Arizona	2010
Vertical Canal		Wind	Rijkswaterstaat	Utrecht	Netherlands	2008
The Wave		Wind	Target Field	Minneapolis	Minnesota	2010	Collaboration with Tom Oslund and Associates
Wave Oculus		Water	Union Point Pier	Oakland	California	2006
Wavespout (Breathing Sea)		Water	Ventura Pier	San Buenaventura	California	1993	Destroyed by 1995 storm along with of the Pier	^[47] ^[48] ^[49]
Wind Arbor		Wind	Marina Bay Sands		Singapore	2011	Collaboration with Moshe Safdie
Wind Cube		Wind	[private collection]	Santa Rosa	California	2005
Wind Fence		Wind	University of Oregon	Eugene	Oregon
Wind Fingers		Wind	[private collection]	Sebastopol	California
Wind Fins		Wind	Neiman Marcus	Walnut Creek	California	2012		^[50]
Wind House		Wind	DiRosa Art and Nature Preserve	Napa	California	2003
Wind Leaves		Wind	Discovery World Pier Wisconsin	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	2006
Wind Portal		Wind	San Francisco International Airport station	San Francisco	California	2003
Wind Roundabout		Wind	Traffic roundabout	Fort Worth	Texas	2015		^[51]
Wind Silos		Wind	International Trade Center	Charlotte	North Carolina	2006		^[52] ^[53]
Wind Veil		Wind	Gateway Village	Charlotte	North Carolina	2000		^[54]

See also

• Environmental art
• Environmental sculpture

External links

• Official website
• http://greenmuseum.org/kahn
• Web site: Ned Kahn . KQED Arts . Spark*. 9 April 2003 .

Notes and References

1. News: Decarlo. Tessa. 1996-08-18. Persuading Nature to Perform Its Stormy Weather Dances. en-US. The New York Times. 2022-01-20. 0362-4331.
2. The Art of Inquiry . Greenwald, Jeff . limited . Fall 2004 . Tricycle . 26 November 2019.
3. The Nature of Art . Fish, Peter . August 14, 2004 . Sunset . 26 November 2019.
4. Web site: Ned Kahn: The Limits of the Knowable . Greenwald, Jeff . July 31, 2011 . Smithsonian . 26 November 2019.
5. Web site: Ned Kahn: About . Denver Public Art . 26 November 2019.
6. Web site: Ned Kahn, Artist and Science Exhibit Designer Class of 2003 . October 5, 2003 . MacArthur Foundation . 26 November 2019.
7. News: Genius rewarded / 3 from Bay Area win grants from MacArthur Foundation . Asimov, Nanette . October 5, 2003 . San Francisco Chronicle . 26 November 2019.
8. Web site: 2005 National Design Award Winners . Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum . 24 September 2019 . 4 December 2019.
9. Web site: Winners of the Sixth Annual National Design Awards . October 21, 2005 . Dexigner . 4 December 2019.
10. Web site: Collection in Focus: Ned Kahn | di Rosa. 22 December 2015.
11. Web site: Portfolio . Kahn, Ned . Ned Kahn . 15 December 2017.
12. Web site: Aeolian Landscape by Ned Kahn . Exploratorium . 26 November 2019.
13. Web site: Articulated Cloud . Americans for the Arts . 15 May 2019 . 26 November 2019.
14. Web site: Articulated Cloud Ned Kahn . Arch2O . 26 November 2019.
15. News: Humongous wheel at CJM turns Israeli sand into art . Paull, Laura . July 29, 2016 . The Jewish News of Northern California . 26 November 2019.
16. Web site: Braided Stream . Exploratorium . 10 April 2018 . 26 November 2019.
17. Web site: Bus Jet Fountain . Casey, Cindy . October 2, 2018 . Art and Architecture SF . 4 December 2019.
18. News: ResMed: A palace of art that inspires office workers . Showley, Roger . April 6, 2012 . The San Diego Union-Tribune . 4 December 2019.
19. Web site: Chaotic Pendulum . Exploratorium . 5 April 2018 . 26 November 2019.
20. Web site: Circular Wave Umbrella by Ned Kahn . Exploratorium . 26 November 2019.
21. Web site: Cloud Portal . Casey, Cindy . January 16, 2013 . Art and Architecture SF . 4 December 2019.
22. Web site: Cloud Rings . Exploratorium . 10 April 2018 . 26 November 2019.
23. Web site: Cloud Rings by Ned Kahn: Maintenance Instructions . Exploratorium . 26 November 2019.
24. Web site: Cloud Vessel . Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission . 4 December 2019.
25. Web site: Project: Docks Promenade . Walker Macy . 4 December 2019.
26. News: sculpting the elements / Sonoma artist's vision makes the invisible visible in patterns of water, shadow, light . Horvath, Alex . August 12, 2005 . san Francisco Chronicle . 4 December 2019.
27. Web site: Digitized Field . Creative Sonoma . 4 December 2019.
28. Web site: Ned Kahn Public Art Projects . City of Santa Rosa . 4 December 2019.
29. Web site: Emerald Glen Park . City of Dublin, California . 4 December 2019.
30. News: Roving art piece rolls into Dublin . Casey, Laura . April 20, 2008 . East Bay Times . 4 December 2019.
31. News: Two Emeryville Marina public art finalists selected to evoke memory of historic mudflat sculptures . Arias, Rob . August 23, 2018 . The E'ville Eye . 26 November 2019.
32. News: Denver hopes to buy $2 million sculpture by Ned Kahn . Rinaldi, Ray Mark . May 15, 2013 . The Denver Post . 26 November 2019.
33. News: DIA's $6 million worth of big, new art . Rinaldi, Ray Mark . November 25, 2015 . The Denver Post . 26 November 2019.
34. Web site: Firefly . Americans for the Arts . 15 May 2019 . 26 November 2019.
35. Web site: Firefly on the new SFPUC Building . Casey, Cindy . September 17, 2012 . Art and Architecture SF . 4 December 2019.
36. Web site: Hidden Sea near Moscone Center . Casey, Cindy . September 22, 2012 . Art and Architecture SF . 4 December 2019.
37. Web site: Ned Kahn: Prairie Tree Alights on Nicollet Mall . August 2017 . Nicollet Mall Art . 26 November 2019.
38. Web site: Rain Oculus . Americans for the Arts . 26 November 2019.
39. Web site: Rain Portal . Casey, Cindy . April 7, 2014 . Art and Architecture SF . 4 December 2019.
40. Web site: Letter to Tom DeCaigny, Director of Cultural Affairs, San Francisco Arts Commission . Kelly Jr., Harlan L. . September 24, 2018 . Office of the General Manager, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission . 4 December 2019.
41. Web site: Rainbow Arbor . Americans for the Arts . 15 May 2019 . 26 November 2019.
42. Web site: Rift Zone by Ned Kahn . Exploratorium . 26 November 2019.
43. Web site: Artists: Ned Kahn . Exploratorium . 22 March 2013 . 26 November 2019.
44. Web site: Tornado . Exploratorium . 29 November 2017 . 26 November 2019.
45. Web site: Tornado by Ned Kahn: Assembly and Maintenance . Exploratorium . 26 November 2019.
46. Web site: Turbulent Orb . Exploratorium . 6 December 2017 . 26 November 2019.
47. Web site: Public Art ID PA93-01 . City of Ventura . 26 November 2019.
48. Web site: Disasters at the Pier . City of Ventura . 26 November 2019.
49. News: Historic Ventura Pier Takes Another Battering: Storm: Waves destroy 420 feet of landmark. Damage is estimated at $1.5 million. High seas and debris close beach. . Bustillo, Miguel . Wilson, Tracy . December 14, 1995 . Los Angeles Times . 26 November 2019 . limited. Alternate URL, image of first section
50. Web site: Approval of a proposal for public artwork for the Neiman Marcus Project . Lederer, Carrie . July 20, 2009 . Arts Commission, City of Walnut Creek . 26 November 2019.
51. News: Panther Island public artwork to be dedicated Thursday . Robinson, Gaile . December 9, 2015 . Fort Worth Star-Telegram . 26 November 2019.
52. Web site: Wind Silos . Americans for the Arts . 15 May 2019 . 26 November 2019.
53. Book: MOVE: Architecture in Motion - Dynamic Components and Elements . Schumacher, Michael . Schaeffer, Oliver . Vogt, Michael-Marcus . 2010 . Birkhäuser Verlag AG . Basel . 978-3-7643-9986-3 . 170–171 . 26 November 2019.
54. Web site: Wind Veil . Americans for the Arts . 15 May 2019 . 26 November 2019.