In The Shadow Of No Towers Inspired My Symphony
by Mohammed Fairouz
The terrorist attacks and their aftermath are seen through the lens of Art Spiegelman’s “In the Shadow of No Towers,” the comic book that inspired my symphony. The discursive back and forth between Art and me saw us commenting on one another’s work but also unraveled the complex (often traumatized) relationship we both seem to have with the decade that followed. The first movement of the symphony, The New Normal, is painfully literal music that stays faithful to the three-part form of Art’s corresponding panel from the comic book. It depicts the lethargy of a slumbering family on a couch watching TV. They are briefly woken up in the second panel when they witness the attacks on their television screen only to immediately return to their sleep in the third panel but not before mounting an American flag on their wall. The proliferation of nationalistic rather than humanist symbols was one of the most striking visuals of the days following the attacks (Art mentions that he expected to see globes rather than flags start to pop up).
Ten years after the invasion of Iraq, it’s clear that we missed the opportunity to come together as a human race for the common cause of humanity, the sanctity of human life and humanitarian advancement. In 2013, we are able to get from any point on the globe to anywhere else in less than 24 hours and yet people, especially those who are closest together, seem to be very far apart from one another. One Nation Under Two Flags, the third movement of my symphony, is an example of this on a local level. The point of departure for this movement is a detail in Art’s comic book on the polarization between red and blue American states. I wrote the movement for two bands playing simultaneously and against each other: “The United Red Zone of America” and “The United Blue Zone of America” make for a divided score. It’s a socio-political satire caricaturing the childishness of political infighting and bickering.
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