Una’s Lectures

Bill Viola, Una’s Lecturer 2009-2010

"The Movement in the Moving Image"
Monday, September 28, 2009
7:00 pm | Sibley auditorium

Follow-up panel discussion with Bill Viola
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
4:00 pm | Morrison Room, Doe Library

Panelists:
Greg Niemeyer (Art Practice)
Charles Altieri (English)
Alva Noë (Philosophy)

Moderator:
Linda Williams, (Rhetoric and Film Studies)

webcast of talk

Over the past 35 years, Bill Viola’s pioneering work has been instrumental in the establishment of video as a form of contemporary art. Rooted in modern life yet often evoking age-old religious philosophies and visual iconography, his work addresses universal human experiences such as birth, death, and the unfolding of consciousness. Viola’s videos, architectural video installations, sound environments, electronic music performances, and flat panel video pieces are often presented as total environments, enveloping viewers in image and sound. The artist claims that in his art—such as in his fresco-inspired 'Going Forth by Day' (2001), which totally surrounds viewers--"the point of view is everywhere."

Viola's videos often exhibit a transcendent and painterly quality, as his use of super-slow motion video encourages the viewer to sink into to the image and slowly ponder meanings contained within it. Many of these videos explore the complexity of emotion by slowing down the nuances of expression and gesture. Viola’s style clearly draws from both Eastern and Western art, and much of his work is also influenced by spiritual traditions including Zen Buddhism, Islamic Sufism, and Christian mysticism.

Viola’s work has been exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, London’s National Gallery, the Fondación “La Caixa” in Madrid, and the National Gallery of Australia, among many others. His most recent exhibition was “Bill Viola: Visioni Interior” (2008) at Rome’s Palazzo delle Esposizioni. Viola's best-known videos include The Passing, Nantes Triptych, The Reflecting Pool, The Crossing, Five Angels for the Millennium, and The Greeting.

Links

Website:
Bill Viola Site

Interviews:
Galway Arts Festival

New York Public Radio’s Studio 360

Speaking with DesignBoom (2007)

Exhibitions and Publications:
SFMOMA 1999, Exhibition Videos

James Cohan Gallery, New York

Haunch of Venison, London

Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House: Writings 1973-1994 (1995)