Since graduating from the Royal College of Art (London) with an MA in Architecture in 1997, internationally recognized artist, designer and educator Shona Kitchen has divided her time between creative practice and teaching. Her work spans public art, conceptual narrative proposals, book works, exhibitions and interactive sculpture/installation. Her practice is frequently collaborative, research-based and site-specific.
Using digital, analog, and biological elements, Kitchen creates work that allows physical and virtual, natural and artificial, and real and imagined to playfully and poetically co-exist. She explores the psychological, social and environmental consequences of technological advancement and failure. Her projects often function as imagined propositions, alternate or future histories that reveal and subvert the unseen technological forces in the world around us and expose our shifting role as creators, consumers and unwitting victims of technology.
Kitchen frequently collaborates with scientists, engineers, writers and software developers. Whether creating a surveillance system for a school of fish or a tidal monitoring sign for a creek-bed, she uses her work to provocatively critique our relationship with the typically siloed natural and technological worlds and to speculate about what could be.
Kitchen has taught at Stanford’s Institute for Creativity and the Arts, California College of the Arts, Art Center College of Design and the Royal College of Art and has lectured at MIT Media Lab and Leonardo International Society for Art, Sciences and Technology, among others. She was a research fellow at the Royal College of Art in the Computer Related Design Studio from 1997–2002. From 1997–2004 she had a successful interaction design practice as part of Kitchen Rogers Design, London. She has worked with clients such as Comme des Garçons, BMW, Science Museum (London) and Samsung. In 2013 she founded the Technological Landscapes Research Group at RISD.
In 2015, Kitchen was one of apexart’s Unsolicited Proposal Winners. Additional honors include an American for the Arts, Public Art Network in recognition of Dreaming FIDS at San Jose Airport, a RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Award for The Minotaur maze and a D&AD Silver Award.
Kitchen’s work has been exhibited internationally at such venues as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Kelvingrove Museum, Vitra Museum, Montalvo Arts Center, Center for Contemporary Art (Warsaw), Zero1 San Jose and the International Symposium on Electronic Art. She has completed a number of public art projects at such venues as the San Jose Mineta Airport; Kielder Castle, Northumberland; the Science Museum, London and Deptford Creek, London.
Professional History
2014- Department Head, Digital + Media, Rhode Island School of Design
2010- Associate Professor, Digital + Media, Rhode Island School of Design
2010-2011, Artist Fellowship/Visiting Lecturer, Stanford’s Institute for creativity and the Arts in cooperation with the Design Group in the Department of Mechanical Engineering
2006-2007, Artist Fellowship, Sally Don Lucas Artists Programs, Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA.
2006, Artist Fellowship/Researcher, Department of Advanced Information and Media Studies, Aarhus, Denmark
2001-2002, Research Fellow, Interaction Design Research Studio, Royal College of Art, London
1997-2004, Design Partnership KRD, (Kitchen Rogers Design), London
1997-2001, Research Assistant, Computer Related Design Research Studio, Royal College of Art, London
1997-present, Self-employed artist, designer, researcher, educator, consultant and collaborator
1993-1994 Exhibition Designer, MET Studio, London
Education
1994-1997, MA Architecture, Royal College of Art, London, England, UK
1990-1993, 1st Class BA Honors Degree, Interior Architecture and Design, Glasgow School of Art, Scotland, UK
Teaching
2014- Department Head, Digital + Media Graduate Studies, Rhode Island School of Design
2012- Faculty, Digital + Media Graduate Studies, Rhode Island School of Design
2010-2011, Stanford University, Tutor/Artist in Residence, Design Program
2009 California College of the Arts, San Francisco, Visiting Professor, Winter Quarter, Architecture
2008-2009 Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA, Thesis advisor, Media Design Program
2007-2008 Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA, Workshop/Lecture, Media Design Program
2007-2010 SJSU SEM (Sculpture Experimental Media, CADRE), CA, Visiting Associate Professor
2003-2006 Royal College of Art, London, Tutor in Design Products
2006 Department of Advanced Information and Media Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark, Workshop
2002 Glasgow School of Art, Scotland, UK, Workshop/Lecture
2006 Aarhus School of Architecture, Denmark, Workshop/Lecture
2005 Department of Advanced Information and Media Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark, Visiting Tutor
2005 Bezalel School of Art, Jerusalem, Workshop/Lecture
2000-2002 Royal College of Art, London, Visiting Tutor Computer Related Design MA Course
Awards
2011, American for the Arts, Public Art Network in recognition of Dreaming FIDS at San Jose Airport
2004, RIBA Award, Royal Institute of British Architects for “The Minotaur” maze
2004, D & AD Silver Award for “The Minotaur” maze
2004, Natural Stone Award, Creative North East Award for “The Minotaur” maze
2004, Creative North East Award for “The Minotaur” maze Kielder Park, Northumberland
2001, FX Award, Best Store Design for Commes des Garçons, Paris
2001, RSA (Royal Society of Arts) Award for “The Minotaur” maze
2000, Everest Conservatory Design award
1994, Bram Stoker Award for “Most Imaginative Student”, Glasgow School of Art
1994, Stakis award for best student
1993, Royal Society of Arts student travel award
Validation Panels, Juries
2017, Lecture + panel discussions: EAST-the International Conference on Education, Art, Science and Technology. CAFA Art Museum, Beijing.
2017, Invited panelist: Shift X Design Harvard School of Business.
2017, Guest critic: SAIC, Chicago. Master of 2017 Lecture: “imagined propositions” Dept Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed MIT, Boston
2016, Lecture: Department of Architecture, MIT, Boston
2016, Exhibit: JIKJI, The Golden Seed, Jikji Korea International Festival
2016, One of 2 curators + exhibitor at Apexart gallery, Lower Manhattan, NYC. Jan 2016: SETTING OUT_ presents a multidimensional view of contemporary expeditions. It recognizes an aspect of expedition as it relates to military, colonial and capitalist activities. It teases out the progressive and positive threads of the worlds of adventure and discovery from the tangle of pernicious connotations. It argues that contemporary explorers abide by a methodology of seeking wherein they create the ground for their expeditions as their process of exploration unfolds. In its original use, the term expedition implied “setting out with aggressive intent” to procure a “prompt supply” of something desired. Today, the frontiers of contemporary expeditions exceed physical geography, greeting their horizon in a space shared by science, society and technology.
2015, Invited panelist, Far-Sited conference, California State University, Long Beach, CA. Exploring the possibilities and the challenges of creating and presenting public art for the 21st Century.
2015, Exhibit: “Neighborhood Watch”: The Fuse Factory Electronic and Digital Arts Lab, Columbia, Ohio.
2015, Invited lecture + seminar on the social, cultural, and ethical implications of emerging technologies, April 2015, MIT Media Lab, Boston
2014, Invited lecture + seminar on Art + Technology, Oct 2013: Oregon State University. Including discussions with several departments, photography, sculpture, digital media, engineering
2013, Invited panelist, Department of Art & Art History, Wesleyan University - discussion on the creation of a digital studio space and associated curriculum; design and digital technology, and their implications for teaching.
2013, Lecture: Department of Communication Design, Kolding School of Design, Denmark
2012, Invited judge, City of San Jose public art program for commission of the new Convention Center public artwork.
2012, Invited presenter, panelist for Americans for the art Public art pre-conference,
San Antonio. Panel title: Ops and Apps: The Art of Technology.
2011, Lecture: Department of Art & Design, Interior Design, Columbia College, Chicago
2010, Lecture: Leonardo, International Society for Art, Sciences and Technology, CA
2009, Invited Presenter and Panelist, Johnson & Johnson, Global Strategic Design Office, New York, NY
2008, Commissioned as Lead Artist to research and develop proposals as part of the process of urban design and social engagement for a Master Design programme for Deptford Creekside in southeast London, led by Creative Lewisham Agency (CLA),
supported by Deutsche Bank, and assisted by Cockpit Arts
2007, Panelist, 1st ACT Silicon Valley (Inspiring leadership, participation, investment in art
and technology)
2007, Panelist, Public Art Department, City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs
2007, Panelist, Montalvo Arts Center, Technology and Arts - How can artists enhance R&D
for high tech businesses
2007-Present, Exhibit: “Datanature”, tickets in permanent collection, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
2006-2008, Exhibit: “Electroplex Heights” as part of “Open House” travelling exhibition for Vitra Design Museum, exhibited: Norsk Forms DogA, Oslo, Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Zeche Zollverein, Essen
2007, Exhibit: Domestic Wilderness Channel, Montalvo Arts Center and 12 Cinema, San Jose, CA
2006, Lecture: San Francisco International Film Festival, Pocket Cinema, Kabuki Theatre, San Francisco, CA
2005, Judge, Environmental Design and Architecture, 2005 D&AD Awards
2005, Exhibit: “PopNoir”: Critical Designs, group exhibition, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
2005, Lecture: Creativity in Design, Art and Science conference, University of Aarhus, Denmark
2005, Lecture: Center for Design Research Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture Copenhagen
2004, Judge, FX Design Award 2004
2004, Exhibit/Lecture: Viper, Basel 2004. A conference about generations on the move
2004, Exhibit: “The Other”, Spiazzi Gallery, Architecture Biennale, Venice
2004, Exhibit: “Edgetown”, Minus One Event, Aldwych underground station, London
2004, Exhibit: “Edge Town”, Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art, London
2003, Lecture: NIRES7, Nordic Interactive Research School, University of Aarhus, Denmark
2003, Exhibit/Lecture: “Edge Town”, The Digital Hub, Dublin
2003, Lecture: 4dspace/OneDotZero, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
2002, Lecture: “Doors of Perception”, Amsterdam
2002, Exhibit/Lecture: Automaten, part of Urban Drift conference, Berlin
2002, Lecture: “Public Reveries, Private Spaces”, London School of Economics, London
2002, Talent Seeker for the Nesta Graduate Pioneer Programme, London
2001, Exhibit: “Taurus To Taurus” 100%, immersive BMW, Drive In Event, Cologne Furniture Fair
2000, Exhibit: Big Torino 2000, 1st biennial of emerging artists, Turin
Publications
2017- In process: Publication of work by Ben Hooker + Shona Kitchen. A compilation of conceptual narrative interior landscape projects developed over 16 years. Projects that explore new spatial experiences that are the result of intangible computer generated “data landscapes” merged with real physical spaces and drawing together language and sensibilities which often appear to be at odds with one another; pleasure and technology, poetry and the industrial/urban landscape.
2013 FUTURE OF LIVING SPACE, RISD_Samsung: Process Book- “Methodology/Tool”. ISBN-10: 069235817X ISBN-13: 978-0692358177
2007, 4dsocial: Interactive Design Environments, Lucy Bullivant (Guest Editor), AD/Wiley, July 2007. Project Featured: Datanature - ISBN: 978-0470319116
2006, OPEN HOUSE Architecture and Technology for Intelligent Living Vitra Design Museum, Germany, Art Center College of Design, USA. Project Featured: Electroplex Heights - ISBN: 3-931936-66-X
2005, 4dspace: Interactive Architecture Lucy Bullivant (Guest Editor), AD/Wiley, Jan 2005 - ISBN: 0470090928
2004, Responsive Environments: Architecture, Art and Design by Lucy Bullivant. V & A Publications. Projects featured: Energy Shutdown + Edgetown - ISBN: 1851774815
2004, Retail: Architecture and Shopping Ian Luna, Rizzoli. Projects featured: KRD/Kitchen Rogers Design - ISBN: 0847827046
2000 Flexible Information and Recreation for Mobile Users, F.L.I.R.T, RCA CRD Projects Paperback. Publisher: RCA Computer Related Design Research – ISBN 1-874175-29-2
1999 PRESENCE with Anthony Dunne, Bill Gaver and team. A two year research project funded by the European Commission through the Intelligent Information Interfaces (i3) programme. Published Paperback - ISBN 187417532 2
Press
Since 1997, my accomplishments in the field of public art/interactive design have consistently been reported in both the major international media as well as specialty journals such as Public Art Review (USA), Brutus Casa (Japan), I-D(USA), Vogue Paris (France), Domus (Italy), Concorde in-flight magazine, USA Today (USA), FRAME (UK) Art 4d (Thailand), Blueprint (UK), Wall Paper (UK) etc.
Selected Built Commercial and Conceptual Projects
2010-Present, Commissioned artist team for Bridge Improvement Program, Public Art Division, City
of Los Angeles
2010-Present, “HIGH---LOW” public artwork – Solar-powered landmark synchronised with the tide, it serves as a tribute to the historical importance of Deptford’s all-but-forgotten tidal Creek. Deptford, London for Creative Process, London - Sponsored by Deutsche Bank (Kitchen with D. Robson)
2010–Present, “Small Wonders” – Exhibit design for collection of art, client, 01SJ Biennial, San Jose Airport. (Kitchen with B. Hooker)
2010–Present, “Dreaming FIDS”, (Flight Information Display System) – A permanent public artwork for Mineta San Jose International Airport combining forms and technologies derived from familiar airport information and security systems with an ecosystem – an aquarium of shoaling fish. A self-perpetuating, dynamic system of surveillance and display, record and playback. (Kitchen, B. Hooker)
2008, Commissioned to create core promotional graphic ZERO1 – Global Festival of Art On The Edge (Kitchen)
2007–Present, “The Weekend” – A permanently-installed electronic sign which automatically illuminates every Friday afternoon until late Sunday night. The sign acts as an substitute for absent temporal markers such as chiming church bells and quiet streets. Commissioned by and installed at Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart. (Kitchen, B. Hooker)
2007, “Domestic Wilderness Channel” – A site-specific installation which takes the sophisticated surveillance technology that pervades urban environments and
mainstream culture and transposes it onto an idyllic domestic environment, exposing the natural micro-world that exists in the hidden nooks of our manicured lawns and drawing attention to modern notions of control in our political, daily, and recreational lives. For Montalvo Arts Center, CA (Kitchen)
2006, “Data Nature” – A multi-site electronic artwork centered around the San Jose International Airport. Two ticket machines dispense printouts which superficially resemble boarding passes, but on closer inspection are unique artworks containing live imagery and other information about behind-the-scenes activity at the airport. Commissioned by the San Jose Public Art Program for ISEA2006 Symposium + ZERO1 San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge. (Kitchen, B. Hooker)
2006–Present,“Hospital Street” – Mechanical artwork integrated within the architecture of Walkergate Park Centre for neuro-rehabilitation in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK (Kitchen with B. Hooker)
2005, “Cellular Noise Maker” – An animated electronic device, ‘electromechanical foliage’, which forms a physical focal point in conceptual project about creating a new aesthetic for city living through integrated architectural/electronic spaces. Exhibited at Jerusalem Museum, Israel. (Kitchen, B. Hooker)
2005, “PSP Site Specific” – Artwork commissioned by Sony for their Design club, exhibited at Victoria Miro Gallery, London (Kitchen with B. Hooker)
2004–Present, “Energy Shutdown” – Four player, interactive kinetic game for Science Museum, London (KRD)
2004, “Smart Homes In Smart Cities”, Experimental housing project Nanterre, Paris (Kitchen, B. Hooker, P. Supelveda)
2004, Design of Men’s Designer Room, Selfridges, London (KRD)
2004, “Brilliant” lighting exhibition at The Victoria and Albert Museum, London (KRD)
2003, Michel Guillon, design of opticians incorporating kinetic elements, Sloane Square, London (KRD)
2003, Al Ostoura, store design, Sahab Tower, Kuwait City (KRD)
2003–Present, “The Minotaur” – Contemporary maze in the grounds of Kielder Castle, Northumberland (Kitchen, N. Coombe)
2002, Joseph, retail store design, 230-236 Westbourne Grove, London + Madison Ave., New York (KRD)
2001, “RAT” (Rogue Ambience Table) – Concept Product Launched at 100% Design and Work Place ’01 (KRD)
2001-2007, Comme des Garçons Flagship Store, Paris – Design and installation of store including automated art installation (KRD)
2001, “Taurus To Taurus” – 100%, immersive BMW, audio visual, electromechanical environment, “Drive In”, Cologne (KRD)
1999, “Invasion Of The Accessories” – Top Shop retail windows, kinetic window installations, London (KRD)
1999, “Responsive Space” – Interactive room, Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow City of Architecture ‘99 (KRD)
1999, “Naked” – interactive installation, Collins Gallery Glasgow, Glasgow City of Architecture ‘99 (KRD)
Selected Research Projects
2020, Artists-At-Sea, Schmidt Ocean Institute, ROV-deployable works with incorporated camera elements to be integrated into the next-generation RAD Sampler, a device for sampling delicate marine life. (Kitchen, Ogasian)
2018, Another Final Frontier explores architectural habitats at the margins of habitability on earth by producing a site specific artwork on an artificial island shared between NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR). (Kitchen, Ogasian)
2018, IMAGEOBJECTLANDSCAPEEVENT (Kitchen, Hooker)
2013-14, “Future Scenarios”: RISD-Samsung Research Lab-2013 “Future of Living Space”
Semester long workshop, crossdiscipline with 4 departments, 14 students. Outcome Exhibition, presentation and publication: Process Book- “Methodology/Tool” http://www.amazon.com/Future-Scenarios-RISD-Samsung-Research-Lab-2013/dp/069235817X (Lead designers/faculty_S.Kitchen,, C.Holman)
2014, “Archiving endangered technological landscapes” composits existing technologies in order to create an alternative archive, allowing range of audiences to virtually experience and explore a series of historically inaccessible and currently endangered man-made landscapes. These facilities form an integral part of our technological history, but are often dismantled and repurposed once they have outlived their function, with little to no documentation taking place. Site of study: NASA Ames, Silicon Valley.
(Technological Landscapes Research Studio)
2013, “Neighborhood Watch” is a collection of landscapes, each exploring new narratives that may emerge as our everyday environments are transformed by the domestication of industrial and military technologies, particularly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). (Kitchen, B. Hooker)
2010-Present, “Friends of Friends” – A research project exploring alternative experiences within our electronically-mediated lives. Funded by Intel’s People and Practices Research group, CA – (Kitchen, B. Hooker)
2006, “Electroplex Heights” – A conceptual project about the future of housing, one of 12 commissioned by Vitra Design foundation after competitive selection as part of an international touring exhibition entitled ‘Open House: Intelligent Living by Design’. The project consists of an architectural model, images, video animation and writings. Exhibited: Norsk Forms DogA, Oslo, Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, Zeche Zollverein, Essen (Kitchen, B. Hooker)
2002, “Edge Town” – A two-year project to explore how interactive electronic systems that use sensors and displays can be designed along side or integrated into the existing built environment, so that existing spaces are electronically extended to amplify their richness, intricacy and narrative possibilities. Funded by an IBM faculty grant and Proboscis as part of the Public Reveries Private Spaces project. (Kitchen, B. Hooker)
2000, “Flirt” – Flexible Info and Recreation for mobile Telephone users: A two-year team research project funded by the EC’s IT for Mobility programme involving a trial of speculative mobile phone services in Helsinki. The project exploited the physical structure of the cellular phone network to align different electronic and physical spaces to create location specific events that would only occur on certain phones in specific places in the city invoking social interaction and play.
1999, “Presence” – A two-year research project funded by the European Commission through the Intelligent Information Interfaces (i3) programme. The project explored high-tech and low-tech interactive technologies to “increase the presence of older people in their local communities” and culminated in a deployed a system of networked street furniture in a Dutch housing estate, thus blurring domestic boundaries, bringing neighborhood issues into the home while allowing people’s attitudes to affect public spaces. (Dr. A. Dunne, Dr. B. Gaver, B. Hooker, S. Kitchen, B. Walker)
1996, “JAL” – Virtual Airport – Research project within the CRD department at The Royal College of Art which investigated multimedia possibilities for air travelers in and around the airport. The goal was to investigate how new media technologies can help reawaken the excitement, wonder, and anticipation of travel currently buried beneath aggressively economic travel systems. Commissioned jointly by Japan Airlines and The Netherlands Design Institute, Amsterdam. Presented at “The World Design Conference on the Global Age of Aviation”, Hanada Airport,Tokyo, 23-24 Oct 1996. A synopsis was delivered at “Speed”, The Doors of Perception conference, Amsterdam. (F. Raby, S. Kitchen, Sally Barton)