Evelyn Mulligan

Scheherazade is a hauntingly beautiful poem written by Richard Siken as part of a collection of poetry titled ‘Crush’. Crush explores themes of queer romance alongside darker themes of death, despair, and abuse. Scheherazade is inspired by the character (of the same name) from One Thousand and One Nights; a collection of Middle Eastern tales. This project reinvents Scheherazade as a Performance Art piece; a live performance which will take place in front of an audience in a gallery space surrounded by paintings inspired by Siken’s poetry. The performance consists of an audio — made from a reading of Siken’s Scheherazade and overlayed with sounds that emulate a natural location, such as a forest. The dancers will move in response to this audio, enhancing the narrative of the poem and visualising descriptive elements of the prose. The result is a movement based piece, emotive and abstract, that creates a visual representation of Scheherazade; honouring Siken’s written work and enabling a varied audience to enjoy the piece. Scheherazade is inherently gothic while also romantic— exploring themes of desperation and melancholy as well as longing and fantasy.  The poem itself emulates a dreamlike state, where fiction and reality mesh, and various stories blend to become one narrative.

My second project is based around the animated band Gorillaz, originally created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. I was inspired to design this project by the exhibition House of Kong, which took place in London over the summer of 2025 and celebrated the band’s 25th anniversary. For my concept, I have imagined an interactive experience where the audience is guided through a building, in which each room displays a key moment from an album’s creation. I have chosen the album Plastic Beach, which was released in 2010 and demonstrates themes of pollution, consumerism, and artificiality.  My designs feature futuristic and dystopian elements as recognisable features of the band’s iconic style. To limit my colour palette, I chose to use colours taken from the miniature set which was created for use in the music videos for Plastic Beach. The island is a key feature within this album, as it is a visual representation of the albums key theme of pollution, being made entirely out of landfill.

I believe this project is relevant in 2025 due to the increased news coverage of the climate crisis and an increase in politically driven protests and riots taking place in countries around the world. Gorillaz have been know for their strong political views and for taking part in protests so my recreation of the character Pazuzu also represents support for protests ongoing throughout Edinburgh using motifs and shapes found within graffiti on the city’s walls.