Last Known Whereabouts

Performance Proposal

Prepared 4/5/2023

*Example of an activated record lathe sculpture*

Project Description:

Last Known Whereabouts began as an IOS mapping app that I built in 2017. It was designed to track a user's proximity to the last known whereabouts of missing people in the Los Angeles area.

When the app was in beta I would drive to these abduction sites to test its integrity in real time. I began collecting objects that I found in these places and amassed a small collection of what could objectively be referred to as trash. I would also take field recordings and landscape video when possible. Concurrent to this project I built a series of sculptures that used a hand-made, record lathe head to pass these field recordings through the objects that I found at the abduction sites. That sound was then collected through contact mics and amplified.

With that said the performance involves me activating these sculptures using the field recordings alongside sparse instrumentation to form a 20 minute ambient music piece. This piece is performed alongside a three channel video piece composed of the landscape videos mentioned above. These videos form a 180 degree view of various abduction sites and slowly “age” through the use of re-photography - creating and layering multiple generations on top of one another until the literal is rendered abstract. The experience functions as a guided meditation/magick ritual meant to invoke the intersection between two contrasting, yet co-existing geographies. The geography of the present (ourselves in the space) and the geography of the missing.

The physical layout of the performance would feature the three sculptures on elevated plinths, spotlit down stage. Behind them, center stage, would be my station consisting of a small table, mixer, field recording playback devices, and instruments. I would stand behind that station, operating the performance. I would be unlit. Behind me, upstage will be three freestanding screens playing the landscape videos. The screens will be arranged to mirror the sculptures upstage.

Performance Duration:

In its current iteration the piece runs 15-20 minutes. In the past I have workshopped longer versions (up to 45 minutes), so the duration is somewhat malleable.

Tech Specs:

The video portion is a three channel piece controlled via an onstage laptop run through a video wall controller (artist provided). It requires three screens (or walls) and three individual projectors. The projectors would ideally be rigged overhead, but can be floor mounted if need be.

I would request access to house power with a 15A edison run to center stage (or performance area), and comparable runs to the projectors. Additionally I request at least an hour prior to doors to rig projectors, stage sculptures and test sound. Performance elements (screens, sculptures and table) could then be staged elsewhere so as not to interrupt the screenings. If this is the case then I would also request 30 minutes to reset the performance elements.

*Workshop performance at Portland Unknown Film Festival with single sculpture.*

Artist Bio:

Daniel WATKINS is a filmmaker and artist born in Orlando, FL and currently working in Los Angeles, CA. He is interested in crypto-geography, useless machines, LoFi technology, and noise. His prolific output has been exhibited worldwide including his most recent feature film efforts Sometimes Our Friends Come Over (and sometimes we’re all alone) (2018) and Remaining Light (2021). His work as a sound artist has been featured in VICE, A Closer Listen, and received a solo exhibition at The Strathmore. Daniel received his MFA in Art and Technology from CalArts.

His music project Chestnut, a collaboration with artist Christina Santa Cruz, was scheduled to appear at the 2020 SXSW Music Festival prior to the onset of COVID-19.

Links to Past Work:

Bite Mark Evidence (short film)

I Love You (short film)

Remaining Light (feature film)

Chestnut: Live at NorCal Noisefest 2020 (virtual)

Press Links for Past Work:

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/53wv5z/piano-music-hundreds-of-facebook-images

https://acloserlisten.com/2018/06/20/chestnut-no-more-pictures-of-urban-light/

https://girlattherockshows.com/2022/11/01/chestnut-ladder-match/

https://illustratemagazine.com/ladder-match-by-chestnut-album-review/

https://acloserlisten.com/2019/10/31/acl-2019-music-for-haunted-houses/