Seikilos Epitaph

The video above conveys the musical component of this work and how I chose this aesthetic. 

About the work: The Seikilos epitaph is thought to be the oldest surviving complete musical composition, including musical notation, from anywhere in the world. The epitaph has been variously dated, but is mostly likely from the 1st or the 2nd century CE.  The song, in the ancient Greek musical notation, was found in 1883 engraved on a pillar from the Hellenistic town of Tralles near present-day Aydın, Turkey, not far from Ephesus.  It is a Hellenistic Ionic song in either the Phrygian octave species or Iastian tonos. While older music with notation exists (for example the Hurrian songs), all of it is in fragments; the Seikilos epitaph is unique in that it is a complete, though short, composition.

Seikilos Epitaph, 2024, 56 x 56 inches, 37 five inch painted wooden discs, mixed media frame.   The blue disc at the bottom, off to the left represents a missing piece to a long time puzzle regarding this musical composition.  Prior to a scholar noticing a small squished symbol on the carved column, the key of the melody was ambiguous and the composition ended on an unresolved note (the 7 interval).   The addition of the final symbol / note not only clarified the key but resolved the composition.  

* The color chart below contains interval numbers and note names/ letters that correspond to the colors of the 7 note diatonic scale 1-2-3-4-5-6-7. Five more colors are added in between to represent the sharps and flats of the 12 note chromatic scale.

Using color to link musical notes, numbers (1-2-3) and letters (A-B-C) is easy to learn because the human brain is already hard wired to make connections between the different senses.  Color, sound, number, letter connections are just not well developed in most people (except for people who have Synesthesia). Think about the experience of hearing sounds and seeing imagery "in the real world" or "in your mind's eye." Our brains process the full range of sensory information as a unified, singular experience.

The idea for this new series of work came from the surprising speed in which my brain connected musical notes and interval numbers when I started color coding sheet music and guitar charts. The connections happened so quickly and effortlessly I knew it wasn't "Devorah" thing. It was a "brain" thing. This realization was the inspiration for this new series of art.

Art that Bridges the Universal Languages of Music, Math, and Color

In the time of the Ancient Greeks, music was not seen as an art but rather as a quantitative science that was used as a mathematical and philosophical description of how the universe was perceived to be constructed.