THE EMBODIMENT OF DEATH

Throughout history different people have depicted Death in a huge amount of different ways, some illustrations contain a skeleton with wings, some depict a cloaked figure on a horse, most of them however are carrying a scythe to kill its victims with. Below are some depictions that i found interesting:

Here we have Gustave Doré's nineteenth-century engraving Death on a Pale Horse.

Here is an old engraving of Death without the clock and offering a hand to death to this dying man.

Here is an illustration that seems to be the most popular depiction of death, cloaked with s scythe. Here is taking away a child from its mother as she prays for her childs life.

For my installation I want to have one video that represents death/hell, so I want to recreate a death like figure in modern clothes and add some styling to it, perhaps a black tracksuit could work nicely:

The following image is from a film I watched for research called the Seventh Seal, a man plays chess with death to determine whether or not death will take his life:

  

throughout the film this man is in a sort of limbo in this chess game as it determines whether he lives or dies, he is trapped in this place til the game is over.

DANTE'S INFERNO+PURGATORIO

Dante, in the 14th Century wrote and epic poem with the help of Virgil, a Roman poet, called The Divine Comedy, (comedy meaning that it ends well, not a funny story at all). Dante and Virgil enter the underworld to visit the Inferno (hell) purgatory and finally heaven. Purgatory and Limbo has interested me the most, these people are waiting, some in great pain, for a verdict from Jesus whether they should be banished to Hell or let into Heaven. This is my starting point for my FMP, I am thinking of my final piece being an immersive installation space.

A map of the Inferno with the different levels and punishments for the different sins.

This is a concept board i put together of various illustrations of parts of the underworld.

PROJECT PROPOSAL

“Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven” This quote, taken from Milton’s

Paradise Lost has inspired one of the major themes that will be recurring throughout

my project, which will consist mainly of an installation with film. I want to explore and

play with a space between life and death or heaven and hell. I will be looking at

scientific research on what happens after death and also religious opinions on the

afterlife. For example when researching this limbo/purgatory between life and death,

I will have a look at Dante’s Inferno, which takes the reader through the layers of the

afterlife. I will also rigorously research installation artists who have dealt with the

theme of death, such as TYPOE, a Miami based artist who has used skeletons in his

displays or Lucy Dodd who has also explored life and death and contrasts in space.

In the space I will be using I hope to look at using prints of photos on the walls, films

playing on various TVs and an uncomfortable atmosphere. I will look at film directors

who have dealt with themes of purgatory/limbo or the question of what happens after

death. For example Mark Isaacs short film LIFT which holds the viewer in a lift in a

flat and is shown all the comings and goings, the viewers are immersed into an in

between space, a temporary location between two real spaces. An immersive

experience is something I am really striving to create with this project.

To prepare myself for this project I will start with a wide range of research, looking at

different views on different types of media. The space between life and death has

been debated and researched by all sorts of groups of people, I hope to study

everyone’s view and implement my own thoughts to create an overall understanding

of this phenomenon. I will look at a wide range of media such as DVDs, news

archives, online articles and journals. I have already listed my initial points of

research. The nature of my concept: it being an intangible and debated thing, will

coincide with any changes I make to my project.