Signs of Life:

Part I, The Santa Monica Mountains

SIGNS OF LIFE is a series “camera trap operas,” whereby large datasets containing images of wildlife are scored by musicians and performed live for an audience. The first performance in the series features scenes from the Santa Monica Mountains collected by the National Park Service in a project led the wildlife biologist Chloe Nouzille. The scientific purpose of collecting this data is to ask questions about how wildlife have responded to the great Woolsey Fire of 2018, which burned more than half of the entire mountain range. The score is composed, performed and improvised live by the musical group AfterEnya, featuring Chris Mckelway and Matthew Doyle, and the cellist Georgia Lill. The images are composed into narrative and performed live by Chase Niesner. The first performance took place at ATTOM Gallery in Los Angeles, which is organized by the artist Luis Motta.