2008-09-26 07:33:12 | Bill Viola

Charles Ritchie after Bill Viola, graphite on Arches paper in bound volume, 4 x 6″. Sketch made from two photographic stills by Kira Perov from Three Women, a video project by Bill Viola. Perhaps the artist working today I most admire is Bill Viola. I was deeply moved by Viola’s retrospective exhibition at the Whitney Museum in 1998. While the artist’s installation/video projects often merge sophisticated devices such as high definition plasma screens and elaborately programmed projections, lighting, and audio; his art comes from the heart. Many of his works are pungent, but one in particular has become a touchstone for me, The Sleep of Reason; the title an obvious reference to Francisco Goya. The installation consists of an antique dresser set before one of the walls of an otherwise empty gallery. On the dresser are a few items including a clock, lamp, and a small television bearing the image of someone sleeping. Suddenly all of the lights drop from the room, and the walls from floor to ceiling fill with projections of the same moving image (I was witness to an agitated white owl flapping wings in a cacophony of deafening sound.) Just as suddenly as they began, images and sound disappear and the dresser and lighted gallery return. Silence. The same event continues at random intervals. I felt I was diving into the subconscious; breaking through the veneer of reality and resurfacing each time I heard Viola speak at the Smithsonian Art Museum a week or so ago. As he stepped to the podium his notes spilled over the stage. He quipped he had five hours worth of talk with him; considering all the paper, I believe him. He kept it to an hour and twenty minutes (thankfully). And although I wish he had talked more about specific works and his experiences making the ...Read More