GILGAMESH

The current unrest in the seat of the world’s oldest civilization inspired us to explore the most ancient epic we have in writing today. The Epic of Gilgamesh is a lush story, rich in meaning, in romance, and in humor.

In the first tablet of the epic, we are introduced to Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk , whose insatiable appetite and oppressive power cause the sky-god to create a counterpart, Enkidu. A wild man, Enkidu is tamed through sensual love and will make his way to the city to meet his rival, Gilgamesh, the only man worthy of his friendship.

We have chosen to explore this epic through the art forms of music and painting, using them in tandem as vehicles for story telling. With original composition on the clarinet, (with the use of Max/Msp as a compositional extension,) inspiring and working off of the visual artist’s projected illustration, the world’s oldest known epic will be brought to life in the present: through new musical forms, and through a new form of visual art exploring the permanence of lines on paper in the impermanence of projection.

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