The Nine Circles of Hell

The Topic: Hell.

The Argument: Everyone could fit into at least one of Dante’s nine circles. Thus we are all going to Hell. But because we are all going to Hell and we are committing these “sins”, Hell will look much like life does now

First Limbo Lust and Gluttony

then Greed anger heresy

last Violence fraud and treachery

are Dante’s nine circles of Hell.

To which I wonder do you belong

for right is ever outweighed by wrong

and all your prayers, your chants, your songs

cannot save you from Hell.

All hope abandon, ye who enter here!

your warning written, plain and clear

and remember as well, abandon fear

you might find Hell familiar.

The Images: I chose a series of short, 3 sec. clips of what I interpret to be examples of hell-worthy-by-the-strictest-definition sins that correspond with Dante’s nine circles. For example, an image of a plain flying over the sky to represent limbo (halfway between space and earth, get it?), an image of Versailles to represent gluttony, an image of street-fighting to represent violence etc. I used moving video clips instead of images to create a sense of life, a sense that these events are happening all the time and they are real.

The Order: I repeated the same pattern of the 15 images three times to, again, give the feeling of reality, like “this happens every day” and “nothing ever changes”. The clips are not unusual, but rather ordinary: a subway station, street performers, ping pong. They coincide with the words at the beginning when I list off Dante’s nine circles and then repeat in the same order.

The Music: Cristofori’s Dream, a piano piece by David Lanz. The entire song is based on a simple minor key theme that is semi-haunting (to me at least). It repeats in variations, which I wanted to enhance the repetition of the video clips. I used the last 34 seconds of the song so I could have the final chord synched with the last line.

The Rhetoric: This video clip appeals by haunting the audience – with repetition and minor-key music – and stirs a fear that no matter what everybody is going to Hell (and all your prayers, your chants, your songs, cannot save you…) The last lines of each stanza are the most important, especially the last (you might find Hell familiar) which does not end the way the other two stanzas do. It is the most important line of the piece, and it leaves the audience chilled as the image fades to white. The text – the only text in the entire work – leaves an imprint in the viewer’s mind.

The Note: I need to ask a techie friend how to improve the definition of the video because it is very pixel-y and it’s bothering me. Also, I knew I wanted to use video clips to make it seem more real, and I knew I wanted to talk about Hell. Well, the only video clips I had on hand were random ones from my trip to Europe – hence Versailles, the French mime, the History Museum, the Plane. But it actually ended up working quite nicely so go creativity!