Bill Viola - Video Artist
In a 2010 interview with Rachel Kohn at the Melbourne International Festival, American video artist Bill Viola was asked about the “tai-chi” pace of his videos in an era of fast moving images. What was he trying to tell us about how we should be spending our time here on earth? Viola’s response was that he is trying to give us more time, to allow our mind to enter a conscious state. When we are bombarded with images, whether it be through the media, or when we are simply walking down a street, we don’t have a chance to absorb and analyze it all. When you slow things down, you reveal an entire reality that you didn’t know existed. So entering a conscious state is for Viola an important element in his work.
Viola “Hypnotic Ascension”, 2000 (The Guardian)
Viola was then asked about his video piece titled “Ocean Without A Shore” from 2007. He said the inspiration for this work came partly from Islamic culture and he quotes the poet and philosopher Ibn Arabi who wrote “the self is an ocean without a shore, gazing upon it has no beginning and no end in this world and the next.” We are eternal.
The reality of death and the way Western culture deals with death is an issue with Viola. He believes there is a tendency for western culture to sanitize death, no one wants to talk about it, which he thinks is a real tragedy. Viola was with both his parents when they died. Whilst he held their hands as they passed, he felt something eternal and profound. He was grieving naturally, but looking into their death faces he saw beauty which completely turned around his concept of beauty and ugliness, as though they are 2 sides of the same coin. We are always making value judgments about what is pretty and what’s ugly - something which Buddhism is telling us is a big part of our problem. Viola brought some Buddhist death poems along to the interview - poems written by people on their deathbeds.
Viola “Ocean Without A Shore”, 2007 (Mary MacGregor-Reid)
Viola spoke of taking a leap of faith in an art practice. He spoke of how the conscious mind can get in the way during the creative process when we are trying to access something that comes from deep within ourselves. How the ego takes over with ideas such as “I’m going to create the greatest painting ever”. He believes that if artists have these voices jabbering away when they are alone in the studio trying to be genuinely creative, they are lost. Viola believes that the greatest artists that have ever lived have reached the precipice and taken the leap, regardless of whether there is a safety net or not.
Pontormo “The Visitation” 1528, (Wikipedia) This painting partly inspired Viola’s 1995 “The Greeting”.
I first became aware of Bill Viola during final year at art school in 1997 when his video “The Passing”really transfixed many of the students. At university, he studied electrical engineering, literature, mysticism and electronic music. He has been the American representative at the Venice Biennale. I only discovered recently that Viola died in July 2024 from Alzheimer’s disease aged 73. A deep thinker if ever there was one.
References;
Bill Viola In Conversation - ACMI
Bill Viola, Eye of the Heart - Marcom Projects