Tom Thayer

Using animation, puppetry, live performers, and music, Tom Thayer transports his audience to his curious and offbeat world. Thayer often layers unusual sound and visual collages to create phantasmagoric animations, employing obsolete audiovisual technologies and naïve art-making materials, such a... Read more

Using animation, puppetry, live performers, and music, Tom Thayer transports his audience to his curious and offbeat world. Thayer often layers unusual sound and visual collages to create phantasmagoric animations, employing obsolete audiovisual technologies and naïve art-making materials, such as construction paper, cardboard, and string. Recalling the 1970s “Learning by Discovery” education model where learning was thought to be incubated by posing abstract, ontological questions to children while submerging them in stimulating, brightly colored environments, Thayer’s work intimates personal histories and fantasies while creating a universally engaging experience. With his collaborative performances, Thayer congregates students, artists, friends, and family members to participate in surreal games and musical and theatrical performances to explore “the creative power of collective action.”