<p dir="ltr">This book accompanied my solo show 'Bright the Below', in Á Space, Hanoi.</p><p dir="ltr">In Greek mythology, Orpheus was a troubadour from Thrace who charmed even the animals. His songs diverted his attention from his wife Eurydice. Death took her away from him. He descended to the netherworld, and used his charm to win permission to return with Eurydice to the world of the living on the condition that he never look at her. But he looked at her and was torn away from her by the Bacchantes. Where does our story take place… and when? A legend is entitled to be beyond time and place.</p><p dir="ltr">In common understanding, Orpheus is the demigod of failure: guilty of not following clear instructions, guilty of lack of foresight, guilty of hubris.</p><p dir="ltr">But I would say that his biggest failure was in allowing the dead to shade his life. Thought is true that the function of the dead is to haunt us, we have no obligation to play along. I offer a different Orpheus. One who learns that the dead live inside us and that we are their master.</p>
