Krivanek+Breaux/ Art+Design

Because we straddle the worlds of performance, urban design and public art, we can produce coherent, meaningful public art programs, to enhance public experience and understanding.
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Communities & Approach
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Our approach to public art begins with communities---to collect the underlying cultural histories, contexts and issues related to a site. In collaboration with the design team, we build upon this understanding to guide the development of the public artwork---relating its concepts, forms and content to the metaphoric potential of the site. Our objective is to develop permanent site constructions or temporary site activations that communicate cultural histories, narratives and dynamics in an open-ended, artistic manner.
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Artworks & Iconographies
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This work results in the development of inscribed forms and infrastructures that broadcast community experiences, histories, or narratives, inward to and outward from the immediate community to the city beyond. These public artworks---metaphoric structures surfaced with icons, symbols and inscriptions---interface with natural and built environments, integrating the languages of architecture and technology with the lost languages and histories of urban communities.
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Engagement & Interactivity
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Our public artworks are always based upon direct and indirect engagement of the public. Viewer experiences can range from: Direct physical-kinetic interaction with metaphoric structures; Viewing and interpretation of visual iconographies; Immersive environments within visual projections; Experiential choreography, moving viewers through a network of pathways in response to visual or textual cues. With backgrounds in performance, communication and urban design, we are interested in planning sequences or networks of viewer interactions and experiences.
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Collaboration & Experience
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Over time, we’ve collaborated with communities, institutions, design teams, architects, developers, urban planners and public agencies/ funders such as the NEA, CTA/ Chicago, Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, et al. We’ve completed permanent public artworks and site-specific performances in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago and elsewhere, including activated structures for the Chicago Station of the CTA Brown Line, interactive artworks at the University of Wisconsin/ Whitewater and the University of Florida and a recent commission for Sherman Plaza in Evanston, Illinois.