Bill Viola is an artist specializing in sound and video techniques. There is sound in these installations, but no words or music. The exhibition which is shown in the Underground and Chapel Galleries is the biggest in the UK for 10 years, and premiers a new piece of work The Trial. In this video, twin screens show a young couple naked from the waist up. They suffer having a selection of different liquids deluged over them: oily and viscous, bloody (at least in colour and texture), milky and finally clear water. Viola refers to these as 'five stages of awakening through a series of violent transformations'. Neither person was told what was going to happen so their shock and eventual relief when it was over were real.
The above and other installations deal with birth, death and the spiritual passage from one to the other; fire and water also feature in them.
I was fascinated by The Veiling which was created in 1995 and was the earliest piece shown, being much more low-tech than the other, more sophisticated videos. Nine sheets of muslin-like cloth are hung across a room with a projector at each end beaming nocturnal images of a man and woman. One from each projector. The man and woman never coexist in the same video frame, only when their images intermingles in the fabric. Intriguingly changing views are seen from the ends and different points along the sides. It takes a while to understand what is happening.
A fascinating if, at times, difficult to understand exhibition. Although I am unsure if we are not just supposed to enjoy the visual spectacle rather than understand it, or perhaps it can be enjoyed on two levels.
Compton, N. (2015) Elemental Artistry: Bill Viola Unleashes a New Show at Yorkshire Sculpture Park [online] Wallpaper. Available from: http://www.wallpaper.com/art/bill-viola-unveils-new-show-the-trial-at-yorkshire-sculpture-gallery [Accessed 8.3.16]
No comments:
Post a Comment