{"id":25884,"date":"2018-03-01T14:18:03","date_gmt":"2018-03-01T14:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artzealous.com\/?p=25884"},"modified":"2018-03-01T21:27:46","modified_gmt":"2018-03-01T21:27:46","slug":"a-reflection-on-bill-violas-moving-stillness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/a-reflection-on-bill-violas-moving-stillness\/","title":{"rendered":"A Reflection on Bill Viola’s Moving Stillness"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been a few years since Bill Viola<\/a> has shown work in New York City. Perhaps in the constant slew of international exhibitions, he forgot about the other coast (Viola lives and works in Long Beach, CA). Fortunately, he remembered, or rather James Cohan Gallery<\/a> reminded him that a New York show is never a bad idea. This latest exhibition, Moving Stillness<\/em><\/a>, features two of Viola\u2019s major works: Moving Stillness: Mount Rainier <\/em>(1979) and The Sleepers<\/em> (1992). The exhibition reminds us why Bill Viola is recognized as a primary innovator in both installation, sound, and video art. \u00a0Mount Rainier<\/em> (1979) and The Sleepers<\/em> (1992) incorporate mixed media and require a certain level of interaction from the viewer. \u00a0As many of Viola\u2019s works do these pieces emphasize water and use it as a metaphor to touch upon themes of human consciousness and the human relationship with the natural world.<\/p>\n

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The Sleepers (1992) \/\/ Photo Courtesy of James Cohan Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Moving Stillness: Mount Rainier<\/span><\/em> (1979) <\/span><\/i>combines a contained body of water, a large-scale projection of Mount Rainier, and subtle audio to immerse the viewer into a scene of Mount Rainier. \u00a0However, the piece is not to be admired from afar. To fully experience<\/span> Moving Stillness: M<\/span>ount Rainier <\/em>(1979)<\/i>, the pool of water is stirred by a gallery attendant, which disrupts the red, blue, and green lights being used to project the image of the mountain. \u00a0This disruption creates a mesmerizing, periodic ripple which transmits across the image in accordance with the movement of the water. The piece can be read as a meditation on perception and impermanence. The figure of the mountain, which often signifies permanence and strength is disrupted with a slight movement, and subsequently, our perception of the mountain changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Moving Stillness: Mount Rainier (1979) \/\/ Photo Courtesy of Southern Blain<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The Sleepers<\/span><\/i> uses a combination of water and video to create a more disconcerting effect on the viewer. \u00a0For the piece, Viola submerges old television monitors, projecting black and white videos of individual sleepers, into seven 55 liter metal barrels filled with water. The barrels sit in a dark room and wires that supposedly attach the monitors to a power source spill out of the barrels. \u00a0Each video depicts an individual\u2019s journey through asleep. \u00a0The sleeper\u2019s expressions change, and they often stir, but they never awaken. The submersion of these images creates a somewhat uncomfortable, voyeuristic experience for the viewer and isolates the sleeper from the outside world.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Sleepers (1992) \/\/ Photo Courtesy of James Cohan Gallery<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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For those unfamiliar with Viola and his work, he was at the forefront of experimental video and video installation work in the early 1970\u2019s. \u00a0His influence on contemporary video and mixed-media work has been profound. \u00a0Viola\u2019s resume is extensive, and his work has been shown across the world since the early 1970\u2019s. \u00a0Much of Viola\u2019s work is influenced by Eastern and Islamic mysticism, and inquiries into major, unanswerable existential questions. Although, Viola rejected his Christian roots while young, a significant portion of his work also explores themes and symbols common in Christianity and Christian mysticism.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Moving Stillness is open to the public through April 14, 2018 at James Cohan Gallery,\u00a0533 West 26th St, NYC.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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top image \/\/ courtesy of James Cohan Gallery<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been a few years since Bill Viola has shown work in New York City<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":25886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,24,23,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25884"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}