From the Archives: Bill Viola
Bill Viola. Water Martyr, 2014. Color High-Definition video on flat panel display, 42 3/8 x 24 1/2 x 2 5/8 in. (107.6 x 62.1 x 6.8 cm), 7:10 minutes, Executive producer: Kira Perov, Performer: John Hay
This interview first appeared in Musée Magazine Issue 14: Science and Technology
MUSÉE MAGAZINE: When I was speaking with you at your opening, you mentioned that you’ve been returning to your old notebooks, and that you wanted to revisit your old work. What prompted you to revisit your past catalogue?
BILL VIOLA: My notebooks are filled with ideas for new works. One or two will surface as I scan them from time to time. Sometimes an idea appears in my notebooks sev- eral times over the years in slightly different forms, until the work is finally ready to be created.
MUSÉE: Your recent exhibition of “Inverted Birth” (2014) at James Cohan Gallery is reminiscent of “Emergence” (2002, commissioned by the J. Paul Getty Museum)—do you see it as a continuation, and do you often see later pieces as con- tinuations of your earlier work? Or an elaboration, perhaps?
BILL: Over the years, I continue to explore the profound themes of human existence, life, death, and their myster- ies. The same questions are found in all my works, just expressed in new ways.
These two works you mention contain a paradox–they somehow represent birth and death at the same time. In “Emergence”, a young man rises from a watery cistern as in a kind of ascension, he is alive and yet he is also dead. “Inverted Birth” depicts a series of violent actions run in reverse, as if the person is awakening from the dead, and yet his transformation is also a birth.
MUSÉE: Spirituality and theology are two major themes in your work. How did your fascination with that genre start?
BILL: Spirituality is not a genre, it is a lifelong experience, a search for a path, or some answers... Theology per se is not really part of this search nor part of my work. I have used some religious metaphors in a few of my pieces (“Emergence” is one of them), but religious art is over- whelming in its representation of the emotions and the mysteries, and the artists who created these works were extraordinary in their skills. It is impossible to ignore the Renaissance, for example, or Orthodox icons, or Greek sculptures of the gods.
MUSÉE: You’ve mentioned that “emotion is a kind of movement”—how do you believe the medium of film best captures emotion?
BILL: A work that was first shown at MoMA in New York in 1987, Passage, takes 7.5 hours to unfold. The tape that was edited for this piece is 23 minutes long, but the playback machine plays it at 1/16th speed, so we see one frame at a time. The images are of a 4-year-old’s birthday party, and when slowed down and “stretched” so much, still contain the essence of the emotions that these children are experiencing. This way, this delight- ful experience is held for longer, something that all of us have wanted to do, to stop or slow down time in order to capture the moment.
MUSÉE: In your talk “The Movement In The Moving Image” at UC Berkeley (2009), you mentioned that, when making art, you have a very clear image in your head that you want to create in reality. Do you make visual modifications in the process of creating your videos, or does it usually not deviate far from your original ideas?
BILL: My ideas come in different ways. Sometimes I see the whole piece at once and it is a matter of filling in the details while shooting. Often, however, the “whole piece” is not the end of it, but other parts happen in the making that resolve the work and give it depth. Other times I need to develop an idea to bring it to life. Perform- ers also bring a level of collaboration that can develop the idea. My longtime partner Kira Perov also assists in helping with creative decisions.
Bill Viola. Earth Martyr, 2014. Color High-Definition video on flat panel display, 42 3/8 x 24 1/2 x 2 5/8 in. (107.6 x 62.1 x 6.8 cm), 7:10 minutes, Executive producer: Kira Perov, Performer: Norman Scott
MUSÉE: When you’re working on a project, what comes first: the technology or the concept? How does technol- ogy influence ideas, and, conversely, how do ideas influ- ence technology?
BILL: I have been very fortunate that technology and my work have had a parallel development, allowing me to be constantly expanding my palette. In some cases the idea for a piece comes before the technology is ready, and then I am pushing its limits. Sometimes the invention of a piece of equipment inspires the work, as with the advent of flat panel screens that could be mounted on a wall. The first thing I did was to turn them vertically, then I was able to make video portraits and do a study of the emotions, the “Passions” series. Using these tools has al- lowed me to extend and expand my vision, and continue exploring the inner essence of the world around me.
