Charles Dockum
1904 – 1977

Charles Dockum began creating cameraless devices for projecting abstract color plays in the 1930s, after attending a Wilfred lumia recital in Waco, Texas. Like so many of his contemporaries, Dockum’s work was informed by a disjointed mysticism comprised of equal parts theosophy, Buddhism, and Kabbalah (absorbed from his best friend, artist Peter Krasnow). Dockum gave his first performances on his Mobilcolor device in 1936 as part of “An Evening of Modern Art” at the Monday Club in Prescott, Arizona, where …
Featured Media

Location
Themes
Practices
Influenced By
Further Reading
Media Credits
Dockum with his MobilColor apparatus. Images courtesy Center for Visual Music