TRIPTYCH I: Commencer une autre mort II: Black or White III: Alla stagion dei fior

Each of the videos in TRIPTYCH uses pre-existing footage as source material. Commencer une autre mort “revises” the closing death scene in Bizet’s Carmen, while Alla stagion dei fior does the same for Puccini’s La Bohème. The source material for Black or White is not an opera, but rather a performance by Michael Jackson, a celebrity whose outsized life—and tragic death—trace a near-operatic arc. TRIPTYCH undoubtedly relies on the artistry of the footage it adapts, and I am indebted to all who were involved in the original videorecordings.

I. Commencer une autre mort In Carmen, just before Don José decides to kill his former lover, he begs her to come back to him, telling her that they can “commencer une autre vie.” He promises her a new life, but that of course never arrives. This video provides her with a new death instead.