Cloud Portal is somewhere between environmental sculpture and a steampunk humidifier.

Ned's got a mad scientist type of fascination with the weather. A lot of his sculptures use wind power, and many others are all about some whirlpool action. This time around, Kahn is periodically smoking out downtown San Francisco. Cloud Portal is a huge set of stainless steel sheets, stacked up like pancakes and wading in a pool of still water. 

When the fog starts coming out of the missing section, there's a little bit of a bad magic trick vibe to the whole thing. You half expect (read: hope) for Criss Angel to pop out and start switching people's body parts around. #Mindfreak. Mist sprays out from the opening in the middle because apparently Ned thinks San Francisco doesn't have enough fog.

Cloud Portal is one of Ned's many kinetic sculptures. Going back to his mad scientist MO, Kahn's one of those artists whose work expands the viewer's idea of art. His ability to control weather phenomena just about on command makes it all much more "art" than something your two-year old cousin's chimpanzee could concoct.