Immersive Experiences
sound-picture-place
Stories often blurring the lines between
fiction and non-fiction,
history and the present moment,
offering pensive yet playful experiences that invite audiences to explore new realms of imagination.
Head Hand Heart
Creator
Executive Producer
Director
Co-Writer
Voice-Narrator
An Immersive Sound Walk is a playful, time-traveling audio walk that invites us to rediscover our true nature and a fresh re-membering as we re-connect Head, Hand and Heart. With the help of a hybrid robot named AWMI-M3-4170, local soundscapes, and insights from Oika founder Dr. Rich Blundell and Wampanoag artist Robert Peters, the experience reimagines the stories of Nantucket’s Native voices and enchantments.
Curious Lightning has re-imagined history, questioned the current island culture, and reshuffled time and narrative. We weave present-moment sonic storytelling with current topics like climate anxiety, consumerism, and indigenous land rights, and we encourage the audience to directly witness and engage with these themes.
Our Narrator AWMI-The playful Wayfinder invites the listeners to join (her/them) on a journey home through the head and the hand to the heart, too full humanness- as the heart character Tashima, wampanoag for The One Who Rises Up.
“Heads, Hands and Heart is a transformative sound walk that takes people on a journey…the carefully curated audio immerses listeners into a bounty of music and storytelling…and evoked a sense of wonder and awe.”
-Felicity F.
“…it was fun to follow along the tour of Nantucket’s streets, former lives and hopeful future…you were able to meld history and Native American Storytelling with factual science, astronomy, and historical reporting. It was true poetry.”
-Emily A.
“Dakota and his collaborators wove together an audio immersive in a uniquely creative way and transported me to that place where it happened…I would recommend this experience to anyone looking for something on the cutting edge and educational to share with loved ones from children to adults…learning about her stirred something in me to reach up and be more.”
-Jean P.
Cinema Wood
Co-Writer & Voice Artist
Installation
Maria Mitchell Gallery
Collaborating with artist Dena Haden, they expand their practices to explore and deepen their connection to Nantucket’s natural wisdom. Conceiving the piece, Dakota anchors the work in time, using images and an antique clock from the era of Maria Mitchell and Nantucket’s whaling history. Through images, lights, and QR code technology, the soundscapes come alive, weaving the past with the present. Dena encircled the piece with natural materials she gathered and weaved from the island’s cranberry bogs and landscapes, grounding the work in the textures of place.
Their collaboration forms a living tapestry of sound, material, and memory, reimagining the interplay between human activity and the rhythms of the natural world. The installation features soundscapes gathered from Maria Mitchell’s Observatory, the windswept cranberry bogs, Nantucket Bay’s waters, and other spaces explored during their Oika residency. These elements invite visitors into an intimate rediscovery of place, blending noise and nature through sight, sound, and touch.
The work evokes inquiry and transformation, offering a portal to remembrance. It whispers and shouts a truth often forgotten: we are part of, not separate from, the natural world. It is an invitation to listen deeply, to reconnect with the timeless wisdom embedded in our shared environment.
Creator
Executive Producer
Editor
In their voices
A world where voices become art and stories weave into soundscapes.
“With his In Their Voices project, Dakota pulled the threads of many stories and voices into a tightly woven narrative that reveals themes of hard work, trust, stewardship and loss related to the forests of the North Cascades over the decades of the 20th century. His interview skills brought out the personality and flavor of many typically laconic types, and his technical and artistic skills brought those personalities into a harmonious and informative whole. We are so pleased with the way this piece honors the history of the Twisp Ranger Station—now known as TwispWorks.”
-Amy Stork
TwispWorks Foundation, Former Executive Director
In Their Voices aired on FM radio, was showcased through listening stations, and has been permanently archived by the Initiative for Rural Innovation & Stewardship in Washington state.
Feature-Length Audio Documentary & Immersive Installation
Mixed-media artist and TwispWorks Artist in Residence Dakota La Croix embarked on a six-month creative exploration, weaving place-based storytelling with elemental sonic artistry. Through hikes to remote fire tower lookouts and in-person interviews, Dakota captured the voices and memories of over a dozen former National Park Ranger Station employees.
The resulting audio journey, In Their Voices, interlaces the elemental themes of fire, air, water, and land with the stories of those interviewed, creating a rich sensory landscape that reflects this enduring connection. The piece features the music of John Gillette, Sarah Mittlefehldt, Soltero, and Simple Life, enriching its atmospheric depth.
As part of TwispWorks' grand opening, Dakota collaborated with artist Tori Karpenko on Honoring the History of the Twisp Ranger Station. This immersive sound installation brought the elemental themes to life, inviting listeners to step into a tapestry of voices, music, and natural sounds, celebrating the profound connections between people, place, and the elements that shape their shared history.
For nearly 80 years, the U.S. Forest Service used the grounds and 17 buildings on its 6.4 acre property in downtown Twisp to carry out forest management work.
When the Forest Service announced that it would auction the property, a dream was born: To turn the “Forest Service complex” into a place that would benefit the whole community.
Le Cerveau
Commissioned by the iconic Radio Bean in Burlington, Vermont, Dakota collaborated with owner Lee Anderson to manifest a imagined concept. The installation, "Le Cerveau," explores the intricate tapestry of human emotions through a mesmerizing interplay of time and expression. Featuring a dynamic montage of faces and emotional states, Dakota captured the essence of human connection by manipulating time to reveal new depths of experience. Premiering live to an audience, the piece was complemented by an evocative