A Slow Hot Kiss of Wind
Nov 14, 2020, 01:32 PM
Lustful created by Kenneth Lyons.
"“A Slow Hot Kiss of Wind” addresses the elemental environment in the zone of the Lustful into which Dante enters early into his journey. It is an environment where classical figures, “those dames and knights of antique days” such as Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Achilles, Paris and others are tossed back and forth in a violent wind as a form of punishment for giving over to the sin of Lust and their base transgressions. Three beasts block Dante’s path before he enters deeper into the the circles of Hell with a leopard, the leopard of Lust being the first he encounters. Once past the leopard, Dante witnesses these classical figures of Lust tossed in the winds yet encounters one, Francesca da Rimini whose story of a chaste and pure love bewitches him. A kiss between them according to one interpretation, is an act of innocent passion and desire which moves Dante along deeper into the circles and propels his journey.
"My interpretation uses sound samples of latter day and contemporary sirens/studs such as Madonna, Britney, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, Mae West, Michael Douglas, Barry White, Barbra Stanwyck and others as the lustful and classical figures from antiquity and sets them in the mix, swirling, appearing and disappearing in the winds, teasing and taunting Dante. Eartha Kitt’s signature purr turns into a growl as the leopard of Lust in the beginning of the work and Marilyn Monroe appears as Francesca da Rimini relating a tale of innocence and desire before bestowing the “kiss” from her song, ‘I Wanna be Loved By You’ upon Dante in the final moments of the piece."
"“A Slow Hot Kiss of Wind” addresses the elemental environment in the zone of the Lustful into which Dante enters early into his journey. It is an environment where classical figures, “those dames and knights of antique days” such as Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Achilles, Paris and others are tossed back and forth in a violent wind as a form of punishment for giving over to the sin of Lust and their base transgressions. Three beasts block Dante’s path before he enters deeper into the the circles of Hell with a leopard, the leopard of Lust being the first he encounters. Once past the leopard, Dante witnesses these classical figures of Lust tossed in the winds yet encounters one, Francesca da Rimini whose story of a chaste and pure love bewitches him. A kiss between them according to one interpretation, is an act of innocent passion and desire which moves Dante along deeper into the circles and propels his journey.
"My interpretation uses sound samples of latter day and contemporary sirens/studs such as Madonna, Britney, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, Mae West, Michael Douglas, Barry White, Barbra Stanwyck and others as the lustful and classical figures from antiquity and sets them in the mix, swirling, appearing and disappearing in the winds, teasing and taunting Dante. Eartha Kitt’s signature purr turns into a growl as the leopard of Lust in the beginning of the work and Marilyn Monroe appears as Francesca da Rimini relating a tale of innocence and desire before bestowing the “kiss” from her song, ‘I Wanna be Loved By You’ upon Dante in the final moments of the piece."
Part of the Inferno project to imagine and compose the sounds of Dante’s Hell, marking the 700th anniversary of The Divine Comedy. To find out more, visit http://www.citiesandmemory.com/inferno