Seven Sins

In my work, I attempt to examine the gestures of everyday life, to discover how objective clues are subjectively interpreted. As a motif, the Seven Deadly Sins are prevalent enough in Western culture to ostensibly suggest a common moral point of view. As with any other intellectual construct, the categories and what they symbolize are open to interpretation. Any artful representation of the motif works on at least two levels; all seven sins have universal literal meanings, but each carries a specifically emotional thrust depending on the experience of a particular reader or audience. The latter is a result of the cognitive agent of memory. Without a personal context, we conceptualize ideas like Pride, Wrath, or Gluttony in the abstract. Memories serve to qualify the conditions into something emotionally significant, giving each sin a stronger impact. Personal context provides a focus, a hard investment in searching and sharing thoughts to determine a common understanding of each sin's larger meaning. There is no definitive result ??? the goal is to attempt to explore ways that social mores connect us emotionally. If indeed that kind of link also functions through art, then the duality of both a universal understanding and personal resonance makes the Seven Sins a worthy vehicle for expression. In this vein, I have chosen to make seven films (one per Sin) and musically score them. The best way to explain the work in total is to look at each film separately, then draw larger conclusions about the cycle as a complete piece