Prophecies of War is a narrative multimedia performance piece that explores war through the use of three media. The creation of the piece was inspired by the historical causation and interpretations of war. This composition debuted in performance at the Philadelphia’s Arts Bank in March 2002 and later performed in May 2002.
War has been depicted in various art forms, from Picasso’s painting, Guernica to Coppola’s film, Apocalypse Now. In many forms of artistic expression, the work occurred during or after each war. Picasso painted Guernica immediately after the end of the Spanish Civil War and Apocalypse Now was created during the Vietnam War.
The three media used to portray and interpret Prophecies of War include visual multimedia, spoken poetry, and music. Musically, it incorporates the elements of progressive rock, Jazz improvisation, 20th century compositional techniques and post-Romantic programmatic concepts. Additionally, music is the primary foundation, upon which the remaining media are based. With the music serving as the foundation for this piece, the visual elements add to the narration. In past performances, the video images included stained glass figures, aquatic textures, motion picture images of war, and city life. Furthermore, the images were manipulated with visual effects that include distortion and color enhancement.
The final element that gives the narrative direction for Prophecies of War are presdiential speeches and war letters. The usage of language gives the audience a point of reference, which contrasts the abstract quality of music.
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