select Projects

10.07 - present
in popular terms
www.inpopularterms.net
In Popular Terms is an interactive visualization, created by The Studio for Urban Projects, that tracks the shifting language of ecology. Drawing from both historical sources and contemporary usage on the Internet, In Popular Terms maps the catch phrases, scientific terminologies, and bumper sticker slogans that surround the changing language that we use to describe our relationship to nature. Created by The Studio for Urban Projects in collaboration with Christian Nold, Gilbert Guerrero, Rick and Megan Prelinger, and Ram Subramanian. In Popular Terms was conceived for the Berkeley Art Museum’s on-line exhibition RIP.MIX.BURN.BAM.PFA curated by Richard Rinehart.

10.07 - present
an unnatural history of golden gate park
www.anunnaturalhistory.net
The nature of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is deceptive. The land that it occupies today was originally thought to be an undesirable drift of sand dunes on the outskirts of the city known as the “outside lands.” Today the picturesque scenery of Golden Gate park presents a convincing English style landscape and the park, a treasured recreational ground for the citizenry of San Francisco. An Unnatural History of Golden Gate Park is an audio tour that strolls through Golden Gate Park exploring the ways in which the park represents changing ideas of nature in the city. The piece considers the important role that this evolving landscape plays in the social and ecological life of San Francisco. Created by The Studio for Urban Projects in collaboration with Kurt Keppeler and Gabrielle Teschner. An Unnatural History of Golden Gate Park was presented as part of the Open Skies Festival.

01.04 - 08.07

proximity
proximity video
Proximity is a video capture suit designed to record a series of chance encounters collected on walking drifts through the city. Re-appropriating surveillance technology to the body, footage is captured via four small camera, fitted to the front and back of the apparatus, that are triggered by a proximity sensor when one’s personal space is entered. The resulting video presents the residue of these urban encounters. Proximity was exhibited at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts as part of the group show Dark Matters: Artists See the Impossible. Created in collaboration with Richard Johnson with technical help from Michael Swaine, Andrew Benson, Ram Subramanian, and Rachel Strickland.

01.04 - 08.06

trace
www.tracemap.net
TRACE is a project, currently under development, that that examines the layering of physical space with the on and off zones of the wireless network. The project seeks to blend the corporeal experience of the city with the invisible qualities of the network, creating a narrative mapping of the hybrid space between them. This mapping is one that challenges purely static notions of public space to promote a temporal logic of the city that reflects the fluctuating character of the wireless network. TRACE was exhibited at VIPER Basel | 2004: International Festival for Film Video and New Media in Basel, Switzerland, the at ISEA2006/ZeroOne International Symposium of Electronic Art San Jose and the Conflux Festival in New York. TRACE is funded by the San Francisco Exploratorium as part of the "Invisible Dynamics Project." Developed in collaboration with Ryan Shaw, Ram Subramanian, Richard Johnson, and Michael Swaine.

06.03 - 10.06

dif(_)
www.alisant.net/dif
dif(_) video
renderings of installation in Emeryville
dif(_) is a comparative algorithm developed to examine the use patterns of public space. Deployed at a series of sites in San Francisco, dif(_) registers the movement of people as they occupy space, retaining a trace of the individual inhabitant. Together, these traces form a secondary architecture of the site, exploring the dynamically sculpted relationship between public sites and their occupation. Exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Beyond Media Exhibition Intimacy in Florence, Italy. dif(_) was installed from January-July 2006 on San Pablo Avenue in Emeryville as part of the public art project “Art Along the Avenue.” Created in collaboration with Anthony Burke and Ram Subramanian.

01.04

section
view video stills
www.section.ws
Section is a database video project, currently under development, that examines the embedded syntax of our routes through the city and challenges the mediated experiences of the urban environment through methods of collecting, editing and compositing video. Section overrides the fixed logic of the urban itinerary, allowing for both the reinterpretation of existing urban spaces and the creation of new ones through methods of montage. Created in collaboration with John Ristevski and Brooke Maury.

08.02 - 12.03

transcode
Created in collaboration with Ann Chamberlain and Klover Kim and currently under development, Transcode is a project developed at the UCSF/Mount Zion Medical Center. Funded by the Creative Work Fund, the project is being developed as a series of installations that create conceptual links between the physically isolated research and patient treatment centers. Drawing from a shared fascination with patterns in both scientific research and the ‘feminine’ art of interior decorating, the project explores this theme common to both science and design through a series of installations that link the methods of research with the forms and materials common to interior decoration. In addition, these installations draw from interviews with the staff, patients, and researchers as well as scientific data collected through imaging and database technologies. As part of the research process, the project has brought together architects, designers, artists, and medical researchers in a day long conference exploring multiple approaches to transforming medical infrastructure.

02.01 - 02.02

field conditions
view installation documentation
Created in collaboration with Rick Johnson, Field Conditions was a project proposing architectural installations in San Francisco’s under utilized urban sites. The project mapped abandoned spaces in the South of Market area including dead-end streets, the spaces in between buildings, and natural arteries covered over by the forces of development. These sites were then divided into four distinct latitudes, each offering a unique opportunity for responding to the urban landscape. Exhibited as three progressive installations at the Headlands Center for the Arts, Field Conditions proposed a series of temporary architectural interventions reclaiming these lost spaces.

12.01

lux
view installation documentation
Lux was a site specific video installation created for the exhibition “Shadowbox” as part of the Second Wednesday’s series at the Exploratorium, San Francisco. The installation examined the theme of architectural transparency, illuminating select sites within the museum that were frequently concealed from the public eye. The installation cycled projected video of these sites within the windows of staff offices and used this collected imagery to blur the architectural definitions of public and private space.

09.99 - 11.00

22X15
view installation + web site documentation
22X15 was a project, created in collaboration with Rick Johnson, to examine the phenomena of urban development shaping Charlotte, North Carolina. Focused on the interaction between urban growth and atrophy that seemed to characterize this fast-expanding southern city, we created web site as a tool for investigation. Entitled 22X15, for the dimensions of the city, the site formed a log of our impressions and research tracing the forces of development. Thematically, the site included a broad examination of urban expansion from the conception of the highway system and the vision of the skyscraper to the damaging effects of the automobile and the abandonment of the inner city. Exhibited for eight months in a public shopping mall, the site was housed in a structure inspired by forms of mobile architecture. 22X15 was presented as an installation in the exhibition Turning Point: South 2000 and initiated during a residency at the McColl Center for Visual Art.

05.98 - 06.98,
09.99 - 01.00

territory
www.alisant.net/territory
Created en-route, Territory was a travelogue charting a nine month journey throughout Europe. Inspired by classic travel narratives, the piece combined photographs and text to form a collection of stories blending the experiences and exaggerations of travel. Produced as a web site, Territory was exhibited as part of Urban Renewal Laboratory, a group show at Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco and as part of the McColl Center for Visual Art Residents: The 1999/2000 Artists @ McColl Center for Visual Art exhibition in Charlotte, North Carolina.

09.99

site
view installation documentation
SITE was a site-specific video installation created, in collaboration with Rick Johnson, for the grand opening of the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, North Carolina. Projected within the facade of the building, the piece combined live video of the event with images of sites within the city that were both under construction and recently abandoned. The installation used the language of surveillance to describe the event within the context of rapid urban development. SITE was produced during a residency at the McColl Center for Visual Art.

07.97 - 09.97,
04.98 - 06.98

single room occupancy
view installation documentation
S.R.O. was an installation exploring the modern invention of privacy. Composed of a series of cubicle spaces, referring to a vestigial form of the modern hotel room, the rooms blended the relationship between every day objects and the preoccupations of internal life. Created in collaboration with Susan Schwartzenberg and exhibited at New Langton Arts, San Francisco and as part of Interface: Art + Tech in the Bay Area, a group show at Duke University, Durham.

03.95 - 06.96

cento: a market street journal
view excerpts of the book
An alternative tour guide of Market Street combining contemporary and archival materials, photographs and interviews to create a narrative journey along Market Street. The book merged the experience of the street with the multiple voices of its past and present inhabitants. Cento was given away at a series of public events that brought the book’s contributors together with the general public on day long walking tours. The project was created in collaboration with Susan Schwartzenberg and Amy Snyder. Cento was supported by the San Francisco Art Commission.

10.07 - present	in popular terms www.inpopularterms.net In Popular Terms is an interactive visualization, created by The Studio for Urban Projects, that tracks the shifting language of ecology. Drawing from both historical sources and contemporary usage on the Internet, In Popular Terms maps the catch phrases, scientific terminologies, and bumper sticker slogans that surround the changing language that we use to describe our relationship to nature. Created by The Studio for Urban Projects in collaboration with Christian Nold, Gilbert Guerrero, Rick and Megan Prelinger, and Ram Subramanian. In Popular Terms was conceived for the Berkeley Art Museum’s on-line exhibition RIP.MIX.BURN.BAM.PFA curated by Richard Rinehart.
10.07 - present	an unnatural history of golden gate park www.anunnaturalhistory.net The nature of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is deceptive. The land that it occupies today was originally thought to be an undesirable drift of sand dunes on the outskirts of the city known as the “outside lands.” Today the picturesque scenery of Golden Gate park presents a convincing English style landscape and the park, a treasured recreational ground for the citizenry of San Francisco. An Unnatural History of Golden Gate Park is an audio tour that strolls through Golden Gate Park exploring the ways in which the park represents changing ideas of nature in the city. The piece considers the important role that this evolving landscape plays in the social and ecological life of San Francisco. Created by The Studio for Urban Projects in collaboration with Kurt Keppeler and Gabrielle Teschner. An Unnatural History of Golden Gate Park was presented as part of the Open Skies Festival.
01.04 - 08.07	proximity proximity video Proximity is a video capture suit designed to record a series of chance encounters collected on walking drifts through the city. Re-appropriating surveillance technology to the body, footage is captured via four small camera, fitted to the front and back of the apparatus, that are triggered by a proximity sensor when one’s personal space is entered. The resulting video presents the residue of these urban encounters. Proximity was exhibited at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts as part of the group show Dark Matters: Artists See the Impossible. Created in collaboration with Richard Johnson with technical help from Michael Swaine, Andrew Benson, Ram Subramanian, and Rachel Strickland.
01.04 - 08.06	trace www.tracemap.net TRACE is a project, currently under development, that that examines the layering of physical space with the on and off zones of the wireless network. The project seeks to blend the corporeal experience of the city with the invisible qualities of the network, creating a narrative mapping of the hybrid space between them. This mapping is one that challenges purely static notions of public space to promote a temporal logic of the city that reflects the fluctuating character of the wireless network. TRACE was exhibited at VIPER Basel \| 2004: International Festival for Film Video and New Media in Basel, Switzerland, the at ISEA2006/ZeroOne International Symposium of Electronic Art San Jose and the Conflux Festival in New York. TRACE is funded by the San Francisco Exploratorium as part of the "Invisible Dynamics Project." Developed in collaboration with Ryan Shaw, Ram Subramanian, Richard Johnson, and Michael Swaine.
06.03 - 10.06	dif(_) www.alisant.net/dif dif(_) video renderings of installation in Emeryville dif(_) is a comparative algorithm developed to examine the use patterns of public space. Deployed at a series of sites in San Francisco, dif(_) registers the movement of people as they occupy space, retaining a trace of the individual inhabitant. Together, these traces form a secondary architecture of the site, exploring the dynamically sculpted relationship between public sites and their occupation. Exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Beyond Media Exhibition Intimacy in Florence, Italy. dif(_) was installed from January-July 2006 on San Pablo Avenue in Emeryville as part of the public art project “Art Along the Avenue.” Created in collaboration with Anthony Burke and Ram Subramanian.
01.04	section view video stills www.section.ws Section is a database video project, currently under development, that examines the embedded syntax of our routes through the city and challenges the mediated experiences of the urban environment through methods of collecting, editing and compositing video. Section overrides the fixed logic of the urban itinerary, allowing for both the reinterpretation of existing urban spaces and the creation of new ones through methods of montage. Created in collaboration with John Ristevski and Brooke Maury.
08.02 - 12.03	transcode Created in collaboration with Ann Chamberlain and Klover Kim and currently under development, Transcode is a project developed at the UCSF/Mount Zion Medical Center. Funded by the Creative Work Fund, the project is being developed as a series of installations that create conceptual links between the physically isolated research and patient treatment centers. Drawing from a shared fascination with patterns in both scientific research and the ‘feminine’ art of interior decorating, the project explores this theme common to both science and design through a series of installations that link the methods of research with the forms and materials common to interior decoration. In addition, these installations draw from interviews with the staff, patients, and researchers as well as scientific data collected through imaging and database technologies. As part of the research process, the project has brought together architects, designers, artists, and medical researchers in a day long conference exploring multiple approaches to transforming medical infrastructure.
02.01 - 02.02	field conditions view installation documentation Created in collaboration with Rick Johnson, Field Conditions was a project proposing architectural installations in San Francisco’s under utilized urban sites. The project mapped abandoned spaces in the South of Market area including dead-end streets, the spaces in between buildings, and natural arteries covered over by the forces of development. These sites were then divided into four distinct latitudes, each offering a unique opportunity for responding to the urban landscape. Exhibited as three progressive installations at the Headlands Center for the Arts, Field Conditions proposed a series of temporary architectural interventions reclaiming these lost spaces.
12.01	lux view installation documentation Lux was a site specific video installation created for the exhibition “Shadowbox” as part of the Second Wednesday’s series at the Exploratorium, San Francisco. The installation examined the theme of architectural transparency, illuminating select sites within the museum that were frequently concealed from the public eye. The installation cycled projected video of these sites within the windows of staff offices and used this collected imagery to blur the architectural definitions of public and private space.
09.99 - 11.00	22X15 view installation + web site documentation 22X15 was a project, created in collaboration with Rick Johnson, to examine the phenomena of urban development shaping Charlotte, North Carolina. Focused on the interaction between urban growth and atrophy that seemed to characterize this fast-expanding southern city, we created web site as a tool for investigation. Entitled 22X15, for the dimensions of the city, the site formed a log of our impressions and research tracing the forces of development. Thematically, the site included a broad examination of urban expansion from the conception of the highway system and the vision of the skyscraper to the damaging effects of the automobile and the abandonment of the inner city. Exhibited for eight months in a public shopping mall, the site was housed in a structure inspired by forms of mobile architecture. 22X15 was presented as an installation in the exhibition Turning Point: South 2000 and initiated during a residency at the McColl Center for Visual Art.
05.98 - 06.98, 09.99 - 01.00	territory www.alisant.net/territory Created en-route, Territory was a travelogue charting a nine month journey throughout Europe. Inspired by classic travel narratives, the piece combined photographs and text to form a collection of stories blending the experiences and exaggerations of travel. Produced as a web site, Territory was exhibited as part of Urban Renewal Laboratory, a group show at Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco and as part of the McColl Center for Visual Art Residents: The 1999/2000 Artists @ McColl Center for Visual Art exhibition in Charlotte, North Carolina.
09.99	site view installation documentation SITE was a site-specific video installation created, in collaboration with Rick Johnson, for the grand opening of the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, North Carolina. Projected within the facade of the building, the piece combined live video of the event with images of sites within the city that were both under construction and recently abandoned. The installation used the language of surveillance to describe the event within the context of rapid urban development. SITE was produced during a residency at the McColl Center for Visual Art.
07.97 - 09.97, 04.98 - 06.98	single room occupancy view installation documentation S.R.O. was an installation exploring the modern invention of privacy. Composed of a series of cubicle spaces, referring to a vestigial form of the modern hotel room, the rooms blended the relationship between every day objects and the preoccupations of internal life. Created in collaboration with Susan Schwartzenberg and exhibited at New Langton Arts, San Francisco and as part of Interface: Art + Tech in the Bay Area, a group show at Duke University, Durham.
03.95 - 06.96	cento: a market street journal view excerpts of the book An alternative tour guide of Market Street combining contemporary and archival materials, photographs and interviews to create a narrative journey along Market Street. The book merged the experience of the street with the multiple voices of its past and present inhabitants. Cento was given away at a series of public events that brought the book’s contributors together with the general public on day long walking tours. The project was created in collaboration with Susan Schwartzenberg and Amy Snyder. Cento was supported by the San Francisco Art Commission.