Video & Music & Text: written, recorded, edited and performed by ©TommyBecker,2015nnPast Presentations: Crossroads Film Festival SF, CA; Mi...
Video & Music & Text: written, recorded, edited and performed by ©TommyBecker,2015nnPast Presentations: Crossroads Film Festival SF, CA; Milwaukee Underground FF, Milwaukee, WI; Other Cinema, Optronica, SF CA; Regional Support Network, Toronto, Canada; Open City Cinema, Winnipeg, Canada, Out of Focus Video Festival, Oakland, CA nnAn 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? We take our children to the zoo to look at the monkeys. The children complain about their inactivity and we feel a sense of betrayal as we admit to ourselves that our observations are a fraud. What’s important in these situations of conflict and captivity is that we are seeing animals as equals. They are no longer the lesser species. 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.nnBIO | Tommy Becker | www.tapenumberone.com nnTommy Becker attended the San Francisco Art Institute as an undergraduate before receiving his MFA in Film, Video, Performance from California College of Arts in 2001 where he was awarded, “The All College Honor Award”. A poet trapped in a camcorder, Becker continues to feed video poems into his never-ending saga, “TAPE NUMBER ONE”. The visual tape blends the artist's poetics, songwriting, performance, costuming with found footage and in computer design. Each track is presented as a song dedication, the videos run song-length, never more then a few minutes. Often, Becker’s work is translated into live spoken word/video performances. His work has been presented at White Columns, New York; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, SF, CA; Antimatter, Victoria, BC; Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, NY, Crossroads Film Festival, SF, CA, Headlands Center for the Arts, Marin, CA, Art in General, New York, Freewaves’ 10th Biennial Film, Video & New Media Art Festival, Los Angeles, CA as well as numerous experimental film festivals and art venues nationally and internationally. Since 2004, he’s worked an arts educator and visiting artist in the bay area teaching and sharing his passion for the arts. nnEDUCATIONnn2001 MFA - Film, Video & Performance | California College of the Arts, SF CAn1998/99 - Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Studies | San Francisco Art Institute, SF CAn1994 BA - International/Japanese Regional Studies | University of the Pacific, Stockton CAn1992 - Undergraduate Studies Japanese/Regional Studies | Kwansei Gakuin University, Osaka, JapannnFILMOGRAPHY | www.tapenumberone.com nnSong for Exiting the Zoo | 2016 | work in progressnSong for Our Aquarium | 6min | DV | 2016nPASSING PERIODS - reflections through a classroom window | 1hr 15min | DV | 2015nSong for Koko | 4min | DV | 2015nSong for Awe & Dread | 7min | DV | 2015nSong for the Pain-body | 4min 40sec | DV | 2014nSong for a Love Song | 5min 200sec | DV | 2014nSong for the Lemons | 5min 30sec | DV | 2013 nSong for Primary Colors | 9min 10sec | DV | 2013nSong for Bobby XP1 | 5min 40sec | DV | 2012nSong for Elliott Jaques | 3min 40sec | 2012nSong for the Movement of Snow Angels | 6min 30sec | DV | 2011nSong for the Collectors | 4min 40sec | DV | 2011nSong for Hellos and Goodbyes | 2min 35sec | DV | 2010nSong for the Brief Seconds | 2min 20sec | DV | 2009nSong for Disobedient Youth | 2min 35sec | DV | 2008nSong for the Movement of Cherry Blossom Shadows | 3min | DV | 2008nSong for Pulling Down the Sky to Give you the Sun | 1min 50sec | DV | 2005nSong for Winter Vacations | 2min 20sec | DV | 2005nSong for the Untitled | 3min 40sec | DV | 2004nSong for the Fate of Animals | 2min 10sec | DV | 2003nSong for Nostalgic Remnants | 2min | DV | 2003nSong for Attachment | 3min | DV | 2002nSong for the Bird in my Backyard | 1min 50sec | DV | 2002nSong for the Passage of Light | 2min | DV | 2001 Less
