Bill violaBy: Mackenzye Smith

Bill viola

Background

• Born and raised in New York

• Nearly drowned and described it as “the most beautiful world I’ve ever seen in my life”

• Attended Syracuse University

• Known for his creation of videotapes, architectural video installations, sound environments, electronic music performances, flat panel video pieces, and television broadcasts

• Main focus on universal human experience

The crossing

The Crossing

• Date: 1996

• Content: one side- depicts a man being engulfed by flames and then disappears; other side- shows a man hidden behind water and then disappears; shows Viola’s fascination with water (stems from his near drowning incident)

• Patron: co-commissioned by the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia

• Media: video/sound installation; shown on a large screen which displays a motion picture on both sides simultaneously

• http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/multimedia/videos/11

The crossing

• Style: clothes- modern day clothing; abstract and expressive interpretation; symbol- water acts as “reflection of the outer world and acts as barrier to the other world”

• Formal Elements: light- illumination of the body; focus drawn away from the face; balance- symmetrical body; balance presented through opposite concepts (fire vs. water); color- solid back background used to focus attention to the figure; texture- attention to detail of the fire and water

• Meaning: Viola claims the idea stems from his unconscious; surfaces the question of whether the man dies or if he travels from catching on fire to being extinguished by the water

He weeps for you

He weeps for you

• Date: 1976

• Content: Eastern religion influence; continues his fascination with water; idea stemmed from cleaning his glasses and noticing that he could see through the raindrops that had collected

• Media: video installation; shown at Documenta 6 in Kassel

• Style: abstract and expressive; video camera magnifies the brass valve; shows both close-up and distant perspectives; drop falls to the drum creating a loud resonant sound

He weeps for you

• Formal Elements: dramatic emphasis; shown from different angles; color- black room with a color screen; attention drawn to the brass valve

• Meaning: representation of human transience and mortality; life is a repetitive cycle

• http://www.sfmoma.org/media/features/viola/BV08.html

Angel’s Gate

Angel’s Gate

• Date: 1989

• Content: does not refrain from displeasing images (woman giving birth, animal carcass, etc); fixates upon existence, experience, memory, and time

• Patron: Commission by Television Español for the El Arte Del Video series

• Media: video installation

• Style: image sequences (a candle being extinguished, fruit falling from a tree, family getting their picture taken, etc); long, slow fades to black

Angel’s Gate

• Formal Elements: light- draws the viewer from the dark tunnel towards the illuminated gate (tunnel scene); filmed from various angles

• Meaning: shows the creation and decay of all things; focus on mortality

• http://vk.com/video5648859_163593401