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.

Tommy Becker attended the San Francisco Art Institute as an undergraduate before receiving his MFA in Film/Video/Performance from California College of Arts. A poet and musician trapped in a camcorder, Becker continues to feed his video, music and poems into his never-ending saga, “TAPE NUMBER ONE”.