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Chris Combs

@chriscombs.net

Artist in Washington, DC and Mount Rainier, MD. My art both incorporates and questions technologies. https://chriscombs.net

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14.11.2024
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Latest posts by Chris Combs @chriscombs.net

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Hammond GEODE by @chriscombs.net at the AU Museum #art #sciart

25.02.2026 21:03 πŸ‘ 47 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Aw!! ❀️
Many thanks to you both!

26.02.2026 19:00 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I certainly don't mind that it looks a bit like a Van de Graaff generator or a Tesla coil!

But sorry to say that the destruction is fictionalβ€”and cyclical...

04.02.2026 15:36 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Art installation mostly made of metal with a large shiny orb and a control panel with a red button

Art installation mostly made of metal with a large shiny orb and a control panel with a red button

The Orb is an art installation by @chriscombs.net . When you press and hold the red button, it slowly destroys a chatbot 😈

02.02.2026 19:52 πŸ‘ 74 πŸ” 14 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
"Insert 25 Cents to Feel Something" artcade machine YouTube video by Chris Combs, Art & Machines

And here's a video.

12.01.2026 15:47 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Exhibitions β€” The Center for Emerging Visual Artists

CFEVA at The Science Center @ 3600 Market Street

Future Continuous

Guest Juried by Lauren Sandler, CFEVA Visual Artist Fellow

On View January 22-March 20, 2026

Opening Reception: Thursday, January 22, 5-7 PM

3600 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104

12.01.2026 15:47 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
A radiant cat looks upwards against a blue sky backdrop, as seen in a bulbous lens. The lens is set in a metal ring in a decrept blue-painted machine.

A radiant cat looks upwards against a blue sky backdrop, as seen in a bulbous lens. The lens is set in a metal ring in a decrept blue-painted machine.

The decrepit machine turns out to be a sort of vending machine, hand-lettered with "Tired? No pep? Feet hurt? Insert 25 Cents to Feel Something."

The decrepit machine turns out to be a sort of vending machine, hand-lettered with "Tired? No pep? Feet hurt? Insert 25 Cents to Feel Something."

Philly, my cat machine is coming to you!

"Insert 25 Cents to Feel Something" is in a CFEVA show opening January 22. (I'm sorry to miss the reception!)

12.01.2026 15:47 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Future Finds cargo.site

They will debut in "Future Finds" at Bathers Library in Oakland CA, opening 1/17 5-8PM.

12.01.2026 15:44 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A shiny aluminum peanut, a cast of a styrofoam peanut, rests on black fabric. It is S-shaped and a lot of its textural detail is captured in the casting.

A shiny aluminum peanut, a cast of a styrofoam peanut, rests on black fabric. It is S-shaped and a lot of its textural detail is captured in the casting.

Four metal peanuts on fabric. Slight variations are visible in them, such as a tighter or looser "grain" from the original foam; so, too, can you see a cleanly cut metallic edge where each peanut was cut from sprues during finishing (a hand done process)

Four metal peanuts on fabric. Slight variations are visible in them, such as a tighter or looser "grain" from the original foam; so, too, can you see a cleanly cut metallic edge where each peanut was cut from sprues during finishing (a hand done process)

Nine small jewelry boxes hold one peanut each, along with paper slips reading "FOREVER PEANUT, CHRISCOMBS.NET"

Nine small jewelry boxes hold one peanut each, along with paper slips reading "FOREVER PEANUT, CHRISCOMBS.NET"

Styrofoam peanuts never do seem to go away, do they? So I thought it would be nice to make them even more permanent.

I melted E-waste hard drive cases and household waste to make these lost-foam "Forever Peanuts" during our last Otis Street Arts Project aluminum pour.

12.01.2026 15:44 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
ACO Artist Discussion with Chris Combs - JJ Bruns

I'm doing a fun zoom convo about my artwork and methods on Saturday morning (U.S. East Coast time). It's about 40 mins of me showing images and then a good 20 mins of open q&a. www.jjbruns.com/aco-chris-co...

05.11.2025 02:08 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
ACO Artist Discussion with Chris Combs - JJ Bruns

I'm doing a fun zoom convo about my artwork and methods on Saturday morning (U.S. East Coast time). It's about 40 mins of me showing images and then a good 20 mins of open q&a. www.jjbruns.com/aco-chris-co...

05.11.2025 02:08 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
In a brick-lined planter along a quiet breezeway, two periscope-like grey pipes erupt from the ground like brontosauruses. They each are painted industrial grey and are roughly person-sized. From this angle, the closer "Periscope" reveals a bulbous screen that is displaying a watery natural scene.

In a brick-lined planter along a quiet breezeway, two periscope-like grey pipes erupt from the ground like brontosauruses. They each are painted industrial grey and are roughly person-sized. From this angle, the closer "Periscope" reveals a bulbous screen that is displaying a watery natural scene.

From a few feet away, their setting is more apparent. They are at two different heights, pointed, as if curious creatures, in two different directions.

From a few feet away, their setting is more apparent. They are at two different heights, pointed, as if curious creatures, in two different directions.

A close-up view shows another natural scene, this time showing a swamp. There is a hood over the end of the artwork, akin to a traffic light or signal. It has big chunky bolts.

A close-up view shows another natural scene, this time showing a swamp. There is a hood over the end of the artwork, akin to a traffic light or signal. It has big chunky bolts.

A side view shows the artwork's proximity to a central square within its host development.

A side view shows the artwork's proximity to a central square within its host development.

Here's my first permanent public artwork, "Periscopes." When you look through its bulbous lenses, you see scenes that might seem faraway, such as heron stalking their prey; but all of the footage was filmed (by me) within 10mi of its site at Buzzard Point in southwest Washington, D.C., USA.

26.09.2025 13:56 πŸ‘ 90 πŸ” 19 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 1

of course--children can step on the ledge to view the shorter one

27.09.2025 02:53 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Forever ever! Ish!

26.09.2025 14:20 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Here's a video view that gives you a sense of what it's like to peer in the screen. The scenes are fairly still, changing every 30-60 seconds; not dynamic enough to watch like a video per se, but more like an ever-changing picture frame.

Permalink with more videos: chriscombs.net/2025/09/24/p...

26.09.2025 13:59 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I worked with a team to install this artwork at "The Stacks" on Wednesday. Steelwork by Steven R. Jones.

26.09.2025 13:59 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
In a brick-lined planter along a quiet breezeway, two periscope-like grey pipes erupt from the ground like brontosauruses. They each are painted industrial grey and are roughly person-sized. From this angle, the closer "Periscope" reveals a bulbous screen that is displaying a watery natural scene.

In a brick-lined planter along a quiet breezeway, two periscope-like grey pipes erupt from the ground like brontosauruses. They each are painted industrial grey and are roughly person-sized. From this angle, the closer "Periscope" reveals a bulbous screen that is displaying a watery natural scene.

From a few feet away, their setting is more apparent. They are at two different heights, pointed, as if curious creatures, in two different directions.

From a few feet away, their setting is more apparent. They are at two different heights, pointed, as if curious creatures, in two different directions.

A close-up view shows another natural scene, this time showing a swamp. There is a hood over the end of the artwork, akin to a traffic light or signal. It has big chunky bolts.

A close-up view shows another natural scene, this time showing a swamp. There is a hood over the end of the artwork, akin to a traffic light or signal. It has big chunky bolts.

A side view shows the artwork's proximity to a central square within its host development.

A side view shows the artwork's proximity to a central square within its host development.

Here's my first permanent public artwork, "Periscopes." When you look through its bulbous lenses, you see scenes that might seem faraway, such as heron stalking their prey; but all of the footage was filmed (by me) within 10mi of its site at Buzzard Point in southwest Washington, D.C., USA.

26.09.2025 13:56 πŸ‘ 90 πŸ” 19 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 1

dismayed by recent moderation decisions on this platform and will be cooling down my participation here for a while.

atproto/bsky is about as decentralized as my nervous system.

and there is clearly a right side of history and these mod calls are not on it

Find me on masto, mastodon.art/@combs

13.09.2025 15:01 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Copter spotter screenshot of USPP helicopter doing very loud loop de loops over my neighborhood

Copter spotter screenshot of USPP helicopter doing very loud loop de loops over my neighborhood

Why is a U.S. park police helicopter doing circles over my house at 0315 @cmzparker5.bsky.social @freedcproject.bsky.social

09.09.2025 07:14 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2
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How And Why Series : Wonder Books New York : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive A collection of all (I think) of the books in the series. I scanned a few, but I found the others across the net in a few places. Thought it would be good to...

(from archive.org/details/HowA... - if you grab the full collection, use the torrent, it's huge!)

25.08.2025 17:56 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A child balances a log while crossing a river against a backdrop of smokestacks, trash, rusting machine carcasses, and pollution as a few wild plants and creatures try to flee on the illustrated cover of the "How and Why Wonder Book of the Spoilt Earth," a 1972 science book for kids with a slightly discordant title.

A child balances a log while crossing a river against a backdrop of smokestacks, trash, rusting machine carcasses, and pollution as a few wild plants and creatures try to flee on the illustrated cover of the "How and Why Wonder Book of the Spoilt Earth," a 1972 science book for kids with a slightly discordant title.

Today's mood

25.08.2025 17:51 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Sharing with the #SciArt feed

22.08.2025 19:59 πŸ‘ 10 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Been there!!

22.08.2025 19:57 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

it's eel-ectric! boogawoogawooga

22.08.2025 17:45 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

ahhh yes the printer is the perfect model and position for each page to fly overhead, operator giving chase like a cat with a feather

22.08.2025 13:54 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

ahhh yes the printer is the perfect model and position for each page to fly overhead, operator giving chase like a cat with a feather

22.08.2025 13:54 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

the FEET

22.08.2025 13:48 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
SUMMARY:
Merchandise Total $320.20
Shipping Estimate $48.71
Customs duties & taxes $176.11

SUMMARY: Merchandise Total $320.20 Shipping Estimate $48.71 Customs duties & taxes $176.11

SO wonderful as a sole proprietor to be paying 55% tariffs on my own circuit board designs

22.08.2025 04:12 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

"Apps slated for deep sleep" is so annoying. When do I get to be slated for deep sleep

20.08.2025 18:06 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Someone needs to update this

20.08.2025 15:56 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0