Images

Opera storyboard–Damnation of Drumph continued. The libretto is being structured along the lines of Seven against Thebes by Aeschylus and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Both offer a mandala structure wherein malign spirits/afflictions are countered by their corresponding wisdoms. The southern gate of the citadel/temenos is besiged by greed, and defended by its antidote, charity. At the northern gate, the spiritual form of Justice battles it’s nemisis. This structure originates in ancient memory systems worldwide, and is a pedantic admonition as well as key to an ancient, esoteric knowledge. Blake said we should attribute sin not to individuals, but to spiritual states. This brings us back to Drumph, whose occupancy of the Whitehouse is an ambiguous limbo–both protection from Justice as well as incarceration itself. The images are drawn from Giotto’s Virtues and Vices in the Arena Chapel. Only after photographing the collage did I recognize it’s resemblance to a Tarot spread.

Image• Posted on by Dogfish Bay