Digital Media Arts Faculty and Students Project “Free Throw” Light Installation at SAP Center During NCAA Division I Men’s BasketballTournament

In basketball, a free throw is an unobstructed, one-point shot offered to a player after a member of the opposing team commits a personal or technical foul. For Gary Craig Hobbs, professor of digital media art at San José State's CADRE Laboratory for New Media, a free throw is a unique invitation to play for artists and athletes alike.

On March 26, 27 and 28, visitors in town to watch the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament will have the chance to pantomime their own free throws in front of an installation outside the SAP Center, designed and programmed by Hobbs and his students to replicate the participant's movements via 100-foot light projection.

"The free throw shot is a moment in the game where there's a pause in play, a moment of suspense and drama that provides an opportunity for recompense or reconciliation for a foul committed during the game," Hobbs says. "The work is a celebration of art and sport in celebration of human potential and as an allegory for community healing."

In summer 2025, Hobbs and fellow CADRE faculty member Esteban Garcia Bravo, assistant professor of digital media art, were commissioned by the Office of Cultural Affairs at the City of San José to propose a project as part of SJ26. While Garcia Bravo's projects led him to City Hall and other sites across the city, Hobbs gravitated toward the SAP Center's exterior facade, which provides the space and infrastructure necessary for a large-scale projection. Hobbs and Garcia Bravo created classes connected to their SJ26 projects to facilitate service learning opportunities for their students.

"It's really special that our roles at San José State University as faculty members and our roles as public artists who have exhibited all over the world are being embraced," Hobbs says. "It is a celebration of the public, of creativity, collaboration and culture in a city that I've had the opportunity to work in for 20 years."

This year also marks the 40th anniversary of CADRE, founded as the Computers, Art, Design, Research and Education Laboratory to offer fine arts undergraduate and graduate programs at the intersection of design, technology and art. Hobbs sees the opportunities presented by SJ26 as an exciting launchpad for artists, faculty and the community at large. Though he and Garcia Bravo are leading different projects, they share a vision for embedding and involving student artists as much as possible.

For Free Throw, players from the public are given three free throw shots at an LED-illuminated free-standing basketball hoop using internally lit glowing basketballs. The work creates a stunning interactive digital artwork projected onto the east facade of SAP Center along Barack Obama Boulevard.

"We're very focused on bringing students into the process, not just as laborers or workers to fulfill our vision, but to invite them to become true collaborators in the creation of artwork and public experiences," says Hobbs. "San José State represents 80 countries from around the world, so our student community of over 400 students in digital media art represents the future, as well as the amazing diaspora of people who have come here around technology and culture."

Stay tuned to SJSU Magazine this spring for more in-depth reporting and imagery of 'Free Throw' and other related SJ26 collaborations.