Photo/Art/History Projects

This project is a video re: the  Pledge of Allegiance  (United States). Tom R. Chambers recites the pledge, manipulates the audio in Audacity, and then combines it with the colors, red/white/blue to create a visual/auditory  mantra . The word, mantra means a sacred utterance, numinous sound, or a syllable, word, phonemes, or group of words believed by some to have psychological power.

Tom R. Chambers works with the crop-circle configurations in the Texas Panhandle (Google Earth). Scholars during the Medieval Period believed that there was something "divine" or "perfect" about the  circle . The farmers of today in the Texas Panhandle believe in the practicality and efficiency of the circle via the utilization of center pivot irrigation of their crops. The "Earth canvases" ( Found Art ) above are a testament to the farmers' intuitive nature and mathematical skill of working with the dynamics of the circle and within the confines of a  square  (plot of land) to irrigate their crops. What's interesting is when these circle-square configurations are viewed as aerial landscapes (similar to  "Aeropaintings" ["Futurism"] ), they rival the works of some non-objective artists. The artist  Kazimir Malevich  (founder of  Suprematism  [non-objective approach to making art]) viewed the aerial landscape as a new and radical...

This project is a tribute to Chambers' uncle, Carol Don "Bud" Meekins (1935-2015). Chambers posted the following on Facebook when he was notified in June of 2015 that his uncle didn't have long to live:. "I am heading to my hometown (Nocona, Texas) tomorrow to see, and be with my uncle, Bud Meekins. He is seriously ill in the hospital, and I have been told that he does not have much longer to live. He is almost 80 years old. Bud is one of the last surviving members of the family on my mother's side. One of his sisters is still living as well. I believe she is 82 or 83 years old. My heart is heavy. Bud was twelve years old when I was born. We grew up together - off and on - as my mother visted her parents, and I stayed with my grandparents during the summer over the years. I used to go out with him and my grandfather to the pasture to feed and work the cows. He was always there for his mother, and helped his parents more than you can imagine. Bud is a true exa...

When Tom R. Chambers was living in   South Korea , he traveled to the   Buddhist   temples on numerous occasions, and became interested in Buddhist philosophy (quotes follow). He also noticed a unique practice of stacking stones as a form of worship and asking for good fortune. He decided to document this behavior and compare these stone formations as a study in technique, and to pay tribute to those Korean people involved with this form of religion. "As material civilization develops, cultivate spiritual civilization accordingly." "All are incarnations of truth-Buddha, do each thing as an offering of worship to the  Buddha ." "Practice meditation continually, practice meditation everywhere." "Keep such oneness in motion and in quietness, maintain the full oneness of the spirit and the body." "Buddhist truth is found in life, life is Buddhist truth itself." (The Scripture of  Won Buddhism , Pal Khn Chon,  The Commemorating Commission fo...

Tom R. Chambers documented (2015) the   9/11 Memorial   in   New York City (NYC)   as closure to the guilt he felt when this tragedy happened on September 11, 2001. He was teaching in   South Korea , and he felt as if there was nothing he could do since he was so far away from the events in his homeland. A sense of guilt and depression set in, and when he returned to the   United States   several years later, the memorial "beckoned" him to make amends for his absence from the country. He did so with this project that looks at the memorial fountain in a very "up close and personal" way. The coverage also treats the fountain as   Abstract Art . Chambers states,   "Let the water fall - let the water flow in memory of those who perished." Images follow: The  September 11 attacks  (also referred to as 9/11) were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group  al-Qaeda  against the United States on...