SIDE ONE • works from 2010 - 2017 • soundtracks • book“I highly recommend the original melodies, wry humor, and filmic intelligence embedded in the irresistible narratives” - Craig Baldwin
“Becker teases out profound gems of wisdom from the dark, murky corners of human psychology…learning tools for progressive young minds and contemporary ballads for aging punks.” - Shapeshifters Cinema
“Becker’s pieces sift through contemporary sites of existential malaise with indefatigable humor and a touch of world-weary wisdom.” - Steve Polta, SF Cinematheque
“Like dreaams, Becker’s works collect and meld disparate and dissonant elements into expressions of lasting emotional resonance.” - John Massier, Visual Arts Curator
Video, Music & Text: written, recorded, edited & performed by Tommy Becker. Vocals, guitars, keys & drum programming by Tommy Becker
Catastrophe & Convenience | DV | 2016 | 07:00 mins
An out of breath man struggles to complete his weekend to-do list as Black Friday shoppers find themselves trapped in their frenzy. Weapons discharge in the solitude of nature as a boy's day dream becomes an epiphany revealing a catastrophe of convenience.
Video, Music & Text: written, recorded, edited & performed by Tommy Becker©2016.
Voice over work by Tricia Brioux. Marionette performances by Billy Mark.
Screening History: Ann Arbor Film Festival (2018), Alchemy Film & Moving Image Festival (2018), Particle + Wave Media Arts Festival (2019), Currents New Media (2018), Experiments in Cinema 14.2, Cyclop Video Poetry Festival (2017), Other Cinema’s Optronica, Shapeshifters Cinema, The Box at Wexner Center for the Arts (2018)
Post production completed at The Wexner Center for the Arts. Found footage sourced from the Prelinger Archives.
Let’s Make a Movie | DV | 2014 | 05:20 mins
Love for the cinema, love for others.
prelude & song for THE PAIN-BODY | DV | 2014 | 01:50 & 04:40 mins
The term, "pain-body" was coined by philosopher and author, Eckhart Tolle. The Pain-body is the collective manifestation of all the pain, misery, and sorrow a person has ever experience in their life.
prelude & song for the LEMONS | DV | 2013 | 01:20 & 05:30 mins
The lemon, often utilized by famed still-life painters was rarely the focus of a composition. More typically, it was being abused for its compositional qualities. Its ovoid form of highly saturated yellow was used to balance the more dominant piling of apples, oranges and pears. The lemon, I felt, never got its day in the sun. This video is a visual lesson plan and my tribute to the lemon.
Prelude & Song for KOKO | DV | 2015 | 02:30 & 04:00 mins
Video & Music & Text: written, recorded, edited, and performed by ©TommyBecker, 2015 / Voice over work on prelude by Gloria Rios
An elephant escapes from the circus and begins a rampage down a city street. His trunk tosses aside everything in his path. We cheer for him. Why? A man sits on an alligator and attempts to tie his mouth shut. The alligator contorts his body, throwing the man off before turning to bite. We are unsympathetic. Why? A life force is being held against its will or once again running wild through the streets. The moment the lion lunges at the tamer we understand his motives. We relate viscerally to his oppression as we connect to the soul of its being.
Presentations: San Francisco Cinematheque’s Crossroads Film Festival SF, CA; Antimatter, Victoria, BC; Milwaukee Underground FF, Milwaukee, WI; “Curious Poses” at Southern Exposure, SF, CA; Experiments in Cinema, Albuquerque, NM; Regional Support Network, Toronto, Canada; Open City Cinema, Winnipeg, Canada; Northampton Film Festival, MA; Out of Focus Video Festival, Oakland, CA. Shapeshifters Cinema, Oakland, CA, Other Cinema, Optronica, SF CA
THE FATE OF ANIMALS | DV | 2003/2018 | 04:00 mins | review
A celebration of the wild mixes with icons of the inhumane. A war chant heard bellowing from the mouths of animals is interrupted by a lullaby. The mantra returns to fuel the creatures’ protest as a bombardment of images continues to call into question, “Who are the true animals of this world?”
OUR AQUARIUM | DV | 2016 | 07:00 mins
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. Symbiosis is the mutually advantageous relationship between two organisms that live in close association with one another.
Hellos & Goodbyes | DV | 2010 | 3 min
This short video poem is dedicated to the fleeting relationships which so often percolate through contemporary life. Hellos & Goodbyes leads viewers through the birth and death of a romantic relationship using the cliché lines of purchased gift cards. Within the script, a second voice emerges to reveal a more authentic picture as the relationship blossoms, sours, and disappears.
prelude & song for AWE & DREAD | DV | 2015 | 02:40min & 7 min
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.
Video & Music & Text: written, recorded, edited & performed by Tommy Becker ©2015. Instructional poetry read by - Don Johnson. Skeleton performances by Billy Mark. Backing vocals by Rosie Harald. Bubble gum chanting & sticking by Gateway High School students, THANK YOU!! public domain footage from the Prelinger Archives.
Presentations: San Francisco Cinematheque's Crossroads FF; Experiments in Cinema v11.4, Albuquerque, NM; Athens International Film and Video Festival, Athens, Ohio; Montreal Underground FF, Montreal Canada; Other Cinema's Optronica, SF, CA; Visible Verse FF, Vancouver, Canada; Cyclop Video Poetry Festival, Kiev, Ukraine
88 pages highlighting works created between 2010 & 2017. QR codes grant access to individual film works. Includes: Catastrophe & Convenience, Song for Koko, Awe and Dread, Song for the Pain-body, Flower Shop (part 1&2) and more. Thank you for your support!!