Artistic Director of
SEEMEN

photo by Nicole Rosenthal

1960-1980 Born in an elevator and raised in Davenport Iowa, the 7th of 9 children. Davenport was recently named "America's Worst Place to Live." What  a toilet. I was given a chemistry set at the age of 9, started blowing upo aresol cans in fires and experimenting with electricity and fire and fireworks about the same time. Started working at father's construction company once I could hold a hammer all day. Became very frustrated and bored with school and eventullay was getting kicked out and expelled by Juniour High. Ran away from home age 15 and started squatting abandoned buildings and living on the streets. Worked as a dishwasher, cook, carpenter, auto mechanic, silk screen printer, small busness owner, entrepeneur,day laborer, street scammer, plumber, factory, grocery store, salesman, teacher, carpenter, stagehand, fix it guy. Never finished one year of High School.  At age 18 worked in United Auto Workers Union at International Harvester factory with 4,000 workers. FOUND PUNK ROCK IN THE LATE 70'S. 1980 Enrolled/scammed my way into the University of Iowa. The best move I had made by then. Discovered art through a camera. 1980-1984 AT THE U OF IOWA I DISCOVERED ART. Met this guy named ROBOT aka John Cord. Did street performances, mail art, guerrilla art, booked punk shows, curated art parties/shows and taught silk-screen poster making. Became interested in art and technolog and ART THAT DOES THINGS. 1984 Completed BFA in Interdisciplinary Art at University of Iowa. Jesus, Reagan got re-elected, got more pissed off. 1985 Brother contracted AIDS. Lived in SF. 1986 Enrolled in MFA program University of Texas at Austin. 1987 Founded SEEMEN. Helped start Austin Media Arts Center, curating, fundraising and organizing events. Acted and wrote scene in the film Slacker (the TV Guy). Did a zillion underground shows in Austin, bought a van and started dragging my friends around the country doing performances. Started to get small grants/shows around the country. 1988 Brother died of AIDS. Got really pissed off. 1985-1989 Exhibited in 53 art exhibits and performances in and around Texas. Taught at UT Austin and The Dougherty Arts Center. 1989 Graduated from UT Austin, MFA Interdisciplinary Art and got the hell out of there! Drove around the US doing shows and seeing and meeting the underground and finally at the end of the year moved back to San Francisco (again). 1991-94 Worked with Survival Research Laboratories in Europe and the US. 1997 Dear friend D. Montgomery passes away, Kal, ahh, is moved, freaked out, humbled. THIS IS HIS FIRST PEER TO PASS AWAY. 1994-Present Currently exhibiting all over, mostly (still) underground venues in.  Working with bio-morphic inputs to trigger machines that GIVE YOU A DIRECT EXPERIENCE. Teaching at SF State and lecturing at other schols around the US. Currently living on the waterfront of San Francisco in an industrial district where I scour junk yards and dumpsters for industrial items whose technology can be reapplied. Currently experimenting with bio-morphic inputs triggering the machines and robots.

interview from the book on FEAR AND PANIC IN ART "Thresholds" Kal's secret life as  Santa Claus  (try and find him}