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 Soren 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

Filmed in my classroom. Audio recorded, mixed & mastered in my living room.
Prelude voice over by Gloria Rios / backing voice by Elsie Becker
Backing vocals by Rosie Harald
Public domain footage sourced from the Prelinger Archives
Bubble gum chanting & sticking by Gateway High School students, THANK YOU!!

Production format: 16mm, HD Video, SD Video

Selected Screenings:
Crossroads Film Festival, Victoria Theatre, San Francisco, CA
Zebra Poetry Film Festival, Berlin, Germany
Altered Esthetics Film Festival, Strike Theater, Minneapolis, MN
North Portland Unknown Film Festival Disjecta Contemporary Art Center, Portland, Oregon
FILE 2017 - Electronic Language International Festival, Fiesp Cultural Center, Ruth Cardoso, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Stockholm Experimental & Animation Film Festival, Zita Theater, Stockholm, Sweden
Berlin Experimental Film Festival, Kino Moviemento, Berlin Kreuzberg, Germany
Montreal Underground Film Festival, Microcinema être, Montreal, Quebec
Experiments in Cinema v11.4 | Guild Cinema, Albuquerque, NM
Athens International Film and Video Festival | Athens Cinema, Athens, OH
Cyclop Video Poetry Festival | Fedoriv Hub, Kiev, Ukraine
Visible Verse 2015 Film Festival | The Cinematheque, Vancouver, Canada