Bill Viola
Born – New York City, USA 1951
Bill Viola graduated from Syracuse University’s Experimental Studios of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts in 1973. His first experiments with Super-8 film and with black and white video date back to 1970. Proceeding from single-screen video and video and sound-based installations he has become known for his monumental pieces incorporating computer-controlled discs and state-of-the-art techniques. These resulted partly from studying new developments in video technology in Japan in 1980-1981. His works are completely absorbing, often literally encapsulating the viewer in an experience that controls the visual and aural senses. In the Nantes Triptych, three large screens almost fill the viewer’s field of vision with the crucial human concerns and actual moments of birth (the artist’s son) and death (the artist’s mother). Between the two is an enigmatic, dreamlike sequence of a clothed figure plunging into watery depths. It is a moving and disturbing meditation on states of consciousness and being and illustrates Viola’s contemplation on the “philosophical mind-body problem coming to a crescendo as an ecological drama…”
Masterpieces:
- Going Forth by Day
- Room for St John Of The Cross
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About bill viola
Bill Viola
David A. Ross
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Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House: Writings 1973-1994
Bill Viola
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The Art of Bill Viola
Chris Townsend
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