Tommy Becker
2021Song for Awe & Dread
Tommy Becker
Song for Awe & Dread is a contemporary take on the vanitas paintings of the 17th century and an investigation into the emotional duality of our existence. It is AWEsome to be human and to be alive, but the evolution of human intelligence has also burdened our species with a self-awareness of life’s impermanence. The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard called these two uniquely human emotions, awe and dread. Through its symbolic meditation on mortality, this work attempts to find meaning between the fleeting flavors of bubblegum and cultural programming that entrenches us in our denial of death.
Song for Awe & Dread
Song for Our Aquarium
Tommy Becker
Our consciousness massages our flesh and bone hoping it will stay glued to us if we treat it well. We know the importance of our physical body to our being, but there are also those invisible, external elements that sustain life that we know nothing about and others that we recognize, but are in the process of destroying.
Song for Our Aquarium
Emotions in Metal
Tommy Becker
"Emotions in Metal" is a twenty-minute visual album by Tommy Becker, divided into eight vignettes that blend video, music, poetry, performance, and computer-generated design. The short works link thematically in their investigations into human-vehicle relationships. Whether performing instructional poetry in the garage, documenting the interiors of strangers’ cars, or celebrating art world connections to the road, the work balances a playful humor with a critical eye on where society is currently parked.
Emotions in Metal
