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About Tommy

Hello. I am Tommy Bobo. I grew up in South Carolina, moved to Kansas at 18, relocated to DC twice and now live in Baltimore.

The dance of dust particles within movie theater projection beams is a key inspiration for my work. Utilizing modified outdated projection equipment, I examine the qualities of projected light in the space between the lens and the screen. Through the use of materials that disperse and magnify, light becomes tangible, producing an experience for the viewer that… more
View Tommy's Resume
Jump to a project:

In Space

This is a piece about tension.
It is a record of my wife's pulse during her first viewing of Ridley Scott's "Alien". Her heart rate is combined with Jerry Goldsmith's score for the film and the subtitles of the film.
Viewers are deprived of the visuals and voices of the original film. What is left is the script and music along the rise and fall of my wife's heart beat. Which spikes during the most pivotal scenes of the film.
  • In Space
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    Color Field for Stanley

    Color Field for Stanley is a four part video installation based on Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Four separate video channels present constantly evolving color fields using palettes created from each frame of the film.
    The completion of this piece was made possible by a grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
    • Color Field for Stanley Parts 1-4
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    The Sound of

    A meditation on sound design and speechless narrative.
    Robert Wise's The Sound of Music reedited to only feature its most quiet moments.
    Created with the help of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
    • The Sound of
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    Laughter Performance

    A two person performance with a simple prompt.

    Fake laugh until you begin to laugh and then stop.
    • Laughter Performance
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    Nostalgia Engine

    Two slide projectors on an endless loop projecting into a single elongated balloon.
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    Hooper vs Quint

    Video loops from 'Jaws' projected at low angles onto sandblasting medium.
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    • Umbra

    Single channel video using vintage slide projector and video camera.
    • Umbra
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    The Ocean Has Taught Me Nothing of the Ways of Women

    Weather balloons illuminated with LEDs synchronized through custom software. This piece is meant to make light tactile and maybe even a little threatening.
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    • The Ocean (Documentation)
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    • Actors Can Only Act

    This piece is created with three overhead projectors, colored plexiglass, and vibration based speakers. Similar to earlier work where I am making light tactile, this piece is making sound visual.
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    • Actors Can Only Act (Documentation)
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    • Fault Line - Fail

    'Fault Line - Fail' is the most recent piece in a continuing experiment using sound vibrations to manipulate light. In this piece the light is a video projected through a modified overhead projector. The projected video image is distorted by the waves of the water.
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    • Fault Line - Fail (Documentation)
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