*Tiamat v. Marduk*
 
T I A M A T v . M A R D U K

debuted in the front window of the Matrix Gallery at 111 South 4th Avenue in downtown Ann Arbor in the late winter and early spring 2001

 

 

old legal documents, gold paint, glass lenses; wood, hardware, video monitor, vcr, video image
Tiamat versus Marduk is a thirty-two-century-old Babylonian myth, Creation Epic, social allegory. Tiamat was one of the first entities of the cosmos, sometimes repre-sented as a giant, fiery, female dragon-like monster in command of an army of demons and monsters, and sometimes as the swirling, watery Chaos of the Universe prior to the creation of life. She would sabotage the work of the younger gods with magic and destructive rage. After so many failed efforts, a hero emerged from the young gods in the form of the four-eyed, four-mouthed Marduk. Marduk wielded a magic net and had at his command the Four Winds, two factors that contributed to his eventual conquest over Tiamat, after a long and terrible battle. He subsequently used her carcass to form Heaven and Earth. Marduk was made King of the Gods. He created Babylon and human beings to dwell there and toil for the gods. He created Language and established Order amongst the ranks of beings.