Currently located at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, a glass storefront houses a huge, shimmering thing that coils and unfolds at the crossroads of 3rd Street. Not exactly a dragon or a storm, and most definitely not static. A digitally created sculpture of tremendous presence and nuance, Leviathan is the most recent site-specific project by FUTUREFORMS, which is led by Jason Kelly Johnson and Nataly Gattegno. It evokes wonder, curiosity, and uneasiness in addition to commanding attention with its form and the cultural weight it bears.
Presented in collaboration with the San Francisco Travel Association and the Moscone Center, Leviathan will be on display from May to November 2025, converting the area into a vibrant link between the city and art.
A Name That Reverberates in Myth
The leviathan is a representation of something enormous, strong, and incomprehensible, with roots in biblical myth, Hobbesian political theory, and intense fear. FUTUREFORMS uses this heritage to represent it visually.
We live in an era of shifting social landscapes, technology excess, and climate instability. It’s a monster that challenges us to face power directly, whether it be institutional, technical, or natural.
Digital Craft and Physical Presence
Leviathan is a perfect example of FUTUREFORMS’ fusion of computing, fabrication, and narrative, as is the case with a lot of their work. The structure includes a frame built of birch and fiberglass, with 3D-printed nodes and rods, which was created using more than 400 completely original parts. It stands around thirty feet tall and is clearly visible through the Moscone Center storefront’s floor-to-ceiling glass windows. This provides crucial visual and geographical context. It is a wonder of digital workmanship and algorithmic design. Despite having a strong organic feel, its body, which is faceted and undulating, could not have been created without digital modeling and fabrication capabilities.
No two pieces are the same, reflecting the distinctiveness of natural systems like coral reefs and exoskeletons sculpted by water or wind. These forms are calculated; they are the result of unique parametric procedures that provide complexity within order and variation.
Lighting as Expression
But light is what makes Leviathan come to life. Its framework pulses with coordinated LED lighting, turning it from a daytime wonder into a nighttime spectacular. Its form is animated by the illumination, which makes it sparkle, shimmer, and sometimes seem to breathe.
Here, light is used in a performative way rather than just as decoration. Depending on the time of day or night, the sculpture’s tone changes, establishing a dynamic relationship with visitors. It transforms from a static sculpture to an event at night.
Leviathan also interacts with its surroundings, pedestrians, traffic, changing weather, and the vibrancy of downtown San Francisco, despite not being touch-responsive.
Art as Vein
Leviathan’s placement in the glass storefront at 250 3rd Street is a brilliant example of urban activation. Between Howard and Folsom Streets, this area is a well-known thoroughfare in the city, frequently identified by the movement of automobiles, conference attendees, and IT workers.
Leviathan functions as a poetic interruption in this situation. It provides an opportunity for reflection, awe, and conjecture. In contrast to pieces of art that are kept in galleries, this sculpture encourages casual interactions.
This kind of public art is uncommon in its capacity to strike a balance between civic charity and aesthetic aspiration. Leviathan demands a lot of its audience, both academically and emotionally, but provides more in return.
A Multifaceted Monster
What is Leviathan, exactly? In a city that is constantly changing, it may remind some people of a phoenix rising from the ashes. Others would see it as a physical representation of climate change, a serpentine storm system. Its parametric skin may be alienating to others, who may view it as a symbol of digital excess.
Gattegno and Johnson don’t offer a single reading. Rather, they stack references, technological, mythological, and ecological. In this sense, Leviathan is a work in progress, completed in the minds of all who view it, rather than merely a completed sculpture.
Age of Complexity
For many years, FUTUREFORMS has been at the forefront of public art, architecture, and design. By adopting what theorist Timothy Morton could refer to as a “hyperobject”, an entity with so many ramifications that it defies simple classification, Leviathan pushes these limits even farther.
Yes, it is sculpture. However, it is also a philosophical investigation, a spatial provocation, and a statement on our interconnected, precarious world. It challenges us to think about how design could convey complexity, dread, wonder, and the sublime in addition to beauty or functionality.
As disciplinary borders continue to blur, pieces like Leviathan hint at a time when public art will be more than just decorative; it will be a catalyst for discussion, contemplation, and even change.
Final Thoughts
With its immersiveness, intelligence, emotional resonance, and contextual awareness, Leviathan represents the future of public art. It serves as a daring reminder that sculpture doesn’t have to remain static, that mythology may be expressed through design, and that our cities’ streets can still surprise us.
It is a monument to what happens when digital talent, conceptual discipline, and civic vision come together as this shimmering apparition surges through the glass façade on 3rd Street. Leviathan is more than just a work of art; it is a manifestation of our collective consciousness, a monument to the unknowable forces that mold us, and a lighthouse of what is possible if we have the courage to face them.
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