“Emotions in Metal” is a 13 minute, investigative visual music work, written, recorded, edited and performed by Tommy Becker. It is divided into four vignettes that blend the artist’s: video, music, poetry, performance and computer generated design. The scenes link thematically in their investigations into human-vehicle relationships. Whether, acting out instructional poetry in the garage, creating mobile sound poems or documenting the interiors of strangers’ cars, the video work balances a playful humor with a critical eye on where society is currently parked.
TRACK 1: The sun is setting. I attach a cherry blossom branch to the grill of my car. I begin my journey through the neighborhood. At intersections, I stop simultaneously with other drivers. No one waves me ahead of them.
TRACK 2: The garage is a home for the car. This instructional poetry work explores the space as it conveys a history of human-vehicle facts through a series of performed actions.
TRACK 3: We consider our car interiors to be a private space, but they’re publicly viewable. What do these mobile spaces reveal about us? My camera searches for answers before being pulled into a synthesized computer world. A space we also mistakenly assume to be private. A space we also often find ourselves trapped in.
TRACK 4: When my kid was seven, we used to create call and response sound poems to pass time while driving. I recorded this one on my cell in 2014. Our vehicles can feel like huge human paper weights. This piece celebrates the ways we overcome the tedium of car time.
