IN CONVERSATION
Artist Tommy Becker with Curator Clark Buckner
A discussion between Artist Tommy Becker and Curator Clark Buckner about his most recent project
"Raindrops on Roses" at Telematic Media Arts.
presented in conjunction with
Raindrops on Roses
Tommy Becker
November 14th to January 23rd, 2026
As a love letter and a gift, composed with Tommy Becker’s unique blend of original poetry, songs, and cinema, Raindrops on Roses explores how we sustain ourselves and our relationships with one another by collectively cultivating and creatively sharing our “favorite things.”
ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS
A self-described "poet trapped in a camcorder," Tommy Becker's visual song cycles take a collagist approach to thematic investigation by combining original songwriting, spoken word, performance, costuming, animation, 16mm direct, glitch and in-computer design. Educational preludes, historical footage, and thematic lyrics lend a documentary component to his work that balances meaning with personal, often humorous, poetic expression.
His films have been shared nationally and internationally including the Ann Arbor Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival, SFCinematheque Crossroads, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Wexner Center for the Arts, Headlands Center for the Arts, Currents New Media , Perth International Film Festival, The Black Maria Film Festival, Sydney Underground Film Festival, Zebra Poetry Film Festival (Berlin), Kassel Documentary Film Festival, Experiments in Cinema (Albuquerque), Swedenborg Film Festival (London), Alchemy Film Festival (Hawick), Milwaukee Underground Film Festival and Athens International Film and Video Festival (Ohio). Selected works are distributed by Canyon Cinema.
Becker often performs work from his tape as expanded cinema where live vocals and sound elements are synced to projected image. He taught visual arts at Gateway High School between 2003-2023 in San Francisco, CA. His publications combine film stills, text and QR codes for viewing work online.