I’m James Thomer. I’m a musician, filmmaker and intermedia artist based in Los Angeles.
My music projects include aosdsakdasd andasjkd .
My film iadsad.
I’m James Thomer. I’m a musician, filmmaker and intermedia artist based in Los Angeles.
My music projects include aosdsakdasd andasjkd .
My film iadsad.
I Voted was a generative sound installation that was up through November 4-11, 2024 in the CalArts WaveCave. This was installed on election day, and each state was assigned a pitch value in relation to its value in the electoral college, e.g. 6 EC votes = 600 hz. As each state was called, these pitches were triggered and layered on top of each other in real time, mirroring the state races in real time on a national scale. The final sound created an unsettling layer of sine waves - unfortunately this eerie drone was more fitting than I had expected.
The voting tablet is a makeshift counterfeit of a Smartmatic BMD (Ballot Marking Device), first implemented by LA County in 2020, where I worked a temp job installing these in the 2020 Primary Election, specific to the contests in the installation location (Santa Clarita).
The voting booth itself is a BRC Votomatic, also known as a “hanging chad” voting booth, from the 2000 Presidential Election in Florida, acquired for $100 on eBay.
The voting tablet is a makeshift counterfeit of a Smartmatic BMD (Ballot Marking Device), first implemented by LA County in 2020, where I worked a temp job installing these in the 2020 Primary Election, specific to the contests in the installation location (Santa Clarita).
The voting booth itself is a BRC Votomatic, also known as a “hanging chad” voting booth, from the 2000 Presidential Election in Florida, acquired for $100 on eBay.
CalArts
WaveCave
4942 Hansen Drive was a video installation in the CalArts Permanent Set, from May 5-12, 2023. The piece was a video and audio collage, and consisted of roughly ~50 fragments of recent recordings and demos (almost all January 2023 - April 2023) spliced together in a simulated viewing experience. The video content is a combination of original and found footage.
CalArts Permanent Set
The CalArts Gift Shop was an installation of a fake, unsanctioned gift store in the CalArts WaveCave from April 24 - 29, 2023. With the exception of a few select display items (records on top shelf, broken guitar, theremin), everything in the store was actually for sale, and I conducted transactions through a Square Card Reader. Items included bootleg CalArts 50th Anniversary merch (t-shirts, hats and tote bags), custom-made posters, books (LA/Santa Clarita-centric), easy-listening records, snacks, drinks, graduation souvenirs, and miscellaneous generic gift shop toys.
The installation was unique in that it was only open when I was working in it, and the doors were locked outside of normal business hours – differing from most WaveCave installations that are open 24/7 during their week of exhibition. Read more
The installation was unique in that it was only open when I was working in it, and the doors were locked outside of normal business hours – differing from most WaveCave installations that are open 24/7 during their week of exhibition. Read more
CalArts WaveCave
A Celebration of the Life of James Thomer was an installation simulating a fake funeral for myself in the CalArts WaveCave. On Thursday, November 3rd, I held a 50-minute long memorial in the installation space with scripted eulogies, poem readings and musical performances.
The family members that performed eulogies were portrayed by professional actors that I hired through Backstage and Craigslist, including my father, mother, brother, sister and a pastor, along with comedian Brent Weinbach portraying a childhood friend. The obituary, eulogies and personal anecdotes shared throughout the service contained both factual and fabricated stories of my life and upbringing, interwoven together to create the distinction between the two difficult, if not impossible. Read more
The family members that performed eulogies were portrayed by professional actors that I hired through Backstage and Craigslist, including my father, mother, brother, sister and a pastor, along with comedian Brent Weinbach portraying a childhood friend. The obituary, eulogies and personal anecdotes shared throughout the service contained both factual and fabricated stories of my life and upbringing, interwoven together to create the distinction between the two difficult, if not impossible. Read more
CalArts WaveCave
The 2007 Democratic Presidential Primary Debate is a distorted reimagining of a Democratic Primary debate that took place on April 26, 2007, featuring Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Joe Biden, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, and Mike Gravel. This installation was held in the CalArts WaveCave between April 4 - 9, 2022.
Each phrase of speech of the 90 minute debate was isolated and divided into folders based on debate topic and its corresponding speaker. Through a program in MAX/MSP, the clips were rearranged by a series of probability factors processed live in real time: a debate topic is picked, Brian Williams asks a randomized question on the topic, a candidate is picked, the candidate provides a randomized answer specific to the topic, and then there is a 50/50 chance either another candidate offers rebuttal or Brian Williams speaks and asks a new question. This was a live, generative process that unfolded as you watched. Read more
Each phrase of speech of the 90 minute debate was isolated and divided into folders based on debate topic and its corresponding speaker. Through a program in MAX/MSP, the clips were rearranged by a series of probability factors processed live in real time: a debate topic is picked, Brian Williams asks a randomized question on the topic, a candidate is picked, the candidate provides a randomized answer specific to the topic, and then there is a 50/50 chance either another candidate offers rebuttal or Brian Williams speaks and asks a new question. This was a live, generative process that unfolded as you watched. Read more
CalArts WaveCave