About the Project
At the foot of King Street on the shore of the Potomac River, an interstellar collision that took place not too far away and not too, too long ago between an asteroid and our planet is about to re-appear. The City of Alexandria unveiled the sixth installment of the Site See public art series called Interstellar Influencer (Make an Impact), in Alexandria’s Waterfront Park (1 Prince Street) in late March 2024. The installation was done by artist/architect duo Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang (StudioKCA) and was on display from March through November 2024.
The installation explores the impact of an asteroid that hit the earth 35 million years ago near what is now Alexandria. Interstellar Influencer uses metal, water, and light to create a 1:2000 scale representation of the asteroid and the 85-kilometer-wide, 1.5-kilometer-deep crater it left behind that helped to shape the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed and the flow of water through its rivers and tributaries in the process.
Visitors can come explore the artwork and consider a new perspective on history, place, and the environment. Lesley Chang of StudioKCA explains, “We want this representation of the asteroid and its impact to raise awareness of the fragility of our shared existence on this planet and the extraordinary (and sometime extraterrestrial) foundation of our modern cities and waterways.” Jason Klimoski of StudioKCA adds, “We all share this one planet and live within the history of events that shaped it. Sometimes you have to look at it from the point of view of an asteroid hurtling through space 35,000,000 years ago to appreciate just how incredible it is we’re here at all.”
Linux Laptop Orchestra International Community Ensemble Performance
The City of Alexandria Office of the Arts commissioned a new EDM-style work by the Linux Laptop Orchestra (L2Ork) International Community Ensemble inspired by the public art installation Interstellar Influencer (Make an Impact) by StudioKCA. The ensemble led by the L2Ork founder and director Ico Bukvic was complemented by a visual projection mapping onto the sculpture itself by another Virginia Tech faculty artist Thomas Tucker. The live performance took place on Saturday, October 19th, at 8pm ET at Waterfront Park in Alexandria. Its performers and music co-creators were distributed across the US East Coast, as well as in Buenos Aires, Argentina, over 5,000 miles apart. Using L2Ork's unique infrastructure, they co-premiered a new EDM-style work in perfect sync (regardless the distance) that tells the story of the asteroid that inspired the sculpture and whose impact shaped the Chesapeake Bay. A recording of the performance is here.
L2Ork International Ensemble members who co-created the work are (listed in alphabetical order): Ivica Ico Bukvic (Director, on site), Uma Futoransky (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Gala Gonzalez Barrios (on site), Justin Kerobo (on site), Joaquín Montecino (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Jacob Alan Smith (North Carolina), Lauti Sosa (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Caden Vandervort (Virginia), and Lane Wills (Virginia). They were joined on site by a visual projection artist Thomas Tucker.
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About StudioKCA
StudioKCA is an internationally recognized, award-winning design studio led by Jason Klimoski and Lesley Chang based in Brooklyn, New York with projects ranging in scale and complexity from lighting fixtures and interiors to public installations, sculptures, pavilions, and buildings.
The practice explores how context and locality offer opportunities to design and create objects and spaces that respond directly to the demands of their programs and environmental conditions. With each project, we are interested in how light and materials can be crafted or purposed to solve a problem, shape a narrative, create a sense of place, and offer a unique solution that resonates with our clients and their sites.
StudioKCA has been honored with design awards including four American Institute of Architects Awards (National Small Project Award, AIA California Council Design Honor Award, AIA New York Design Merit Award, and AIA Brooklyn + Queens Design Merit Award), the AIA New York City of Dreams Pavilion Winner, a SARA New York Chapter Design Award of Excellence, two Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Awards, three Interior Design Magazine Best of Year Award Honors, two Architizer A+ Award Finalists, and The Architect’s Newspaper Best of Young Architects Award Honorable Mention.
The work of the firm has been published in Architectural Record, Interior Design, The Architect's Newspaper, Architectural Digest, Wired, Wallpaper*, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Fast Company, New York Magazine, Time Out New York, and broadcast on The Weather Channel, CNN, and Discovery Channel.