Presence of Absence is a collaborative multimedia performance that honors the legacy of Gordon Parks through an immersive convergence of music, image, sculpture, and light. Conceived and directed by artist Andrew F. Scott in collaboration with jazz composer Terence Blanchard and his E-Collective ensemble, the project brings together digital media, projection mapping, and responsive installation to activate Parks’s archive in new, emotionally resonant ways.
The work premiered in April 2022 at Kansas State University’s McCain Auditorium and the University of Texas at Dallas, coinciding with the exhibition Homeward to the Prairie I Come, which focused on Parks’s Kansas roots. Building on this curatorial context, Presence of Absence draws its emotional structure from Blanchard’s album Absence, a tribute to jazz legend Wayne Shorter. Each musical track serves as a thematic chapter, guiding a visual response composed of animated archival imagery, poetic texts, and motion-driven light.
Central to the performance is a large-scale projection-mapped environment designed by Scott and executed by his student-led collective, the LightSquad. The visuals are not literal illustrations but interpretive translations—kinetic responses to the emotional arc of the music and the spirit of Parks’s work. Photographs dissolve into abstractions, words pulse like breath across surfaces, and portraits emerge and vanish in time with shifting rhythms. The result is a space where memory is not static but alive, unfolding through layers of digital composition.
The performance also features a sculptural installation titled Empathic Lens, a laser-cut, sound-reactive light form that anchors the visual space. Developed with support from ATEC faculty and students, the sculpture integrates DMX lighting protocols, custom programming, and a real-time video feed, uniting live performance with ambient visual storytelling. The sculpture functions as both a technological hub and a symbolic core, evoking Parks’s role as a seer, a witness, and a humanist.
Through its poetic layering of sound, image, and narrative, Presence of Absence offers a powerful lens into Parks’s vision —a way of seeing rooted in dignity, resilience, and profound empathy. It exemplifies how contemporary media can honor historical legacy while opening new pathways for reflection, performance, and dialogue.
Presence of Absence is not only an artwork but a pedagogical platform. Students from the University of Texas at Dallas and Kansas State University collaborated on all aspects of the production, from conceptual research and visual design to animation and technical direction. The process was structured around principles of Design Thinking, Synectics, and critical making, reinforcing Scott’s commitment to practice-based learning and interdisciplinary mentorship.
Following its campus premieres, the project toured nationally, with performances at SFJazz, the Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Denison University, and Keller Auditorium in Portland. A filmed version was also screened at the 19th Annual Gordon Parks Celebration in Fort Scott, Kansas, and at the 2024 Gordon Parks Convening, extending the project’s reach into broader public and educational contexts.
Andrew F. Scott visual design and production, Presence of Absence: Gordon Parks: Through an Empathic Lens. Terence Blanchard, E-Collective (Charles Altura, guitar; Taylor Eigsti, piano; David Ginyard, bass; Jonathan Barber, drums); Turtle Island Quartet (David Balakrishnan, violin; Gabriel Terracciano, violin; Benjamin von Gutzeit, viola; Naseem Alatrash, cello); Matt Unkenholz, remote cameras and technical director. Matthew Gaynor (KSU professor); UT Dallas LightSquad, and Kansas State University students.
AHT Lecture Hall, Edith O’Donnell Art and Technology Building, UT Dallas, Richardson, TX, April 9, 2022. McCain Auditorium, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, April 7, 2022.
UT Dallas LightSquad
Andrew F. Scott (faculty) art direction and production; Matt Unkenholz (staff): remote cameras and technical director; Roxanne Minnish (faculty): marketing and promotions design and project documentation; Karen Doore (faculty): consultant and advisor; student contributors: Nitashia Johnson, Amandosa Marquez, Liam Melugin, Adan Morales, Clay Purdy, Athena Shen, Eunjoo Shin, Harvey Silverman, Cameron Steele, Koby Wheeler, Jolynn Yeh, Mason Zabojnik.
Kansas State University
Matthew Gaynor (faculty): collaborating professor; student contributors: Grace Gorges, Amyah Montgomery, Abby Swafford, Amanda Wollesen.
photo credits: Roxanne Minnish, Sarah Wall