After the museum of curiosities and the museum of childhood I went to the bill viola exhibition which was overwhelming in another way. Right from the first work, with the man slowly falling into the water and emerging again, you were confronted by ideas of humanity. Going through the next works with the three video panels (one with a woman giving birth, one with an abstract figure floating, one with viola’s own mother a week before she died) was the most heartbreaking and raw thing, it was like being confronted with all the things we didn’t want to see. Everything I keep on pushing down, the death of a mother, or a family member in pain, it was the most raw reality, I felt like I was slapped in the face by how fragile humans are. The rest of the works I was definitely emotionally moved and the presentation, mood and ideas evoked. The projection of the old woman and man using a torch to search for SOMETHING over their body was amazing. Also, we stayed in the work with the turning mirror for the entire duration, it felt like we were in a hallucination. The way the three color channel was reflected from the mirror and moving constantly, as well as seeing yourself in the mirror and it turns to you, wow. The work with the really thin layered backdrops was the most impressive as well. It was so ghostly and eerie. Bill viola is truly a genius in video works. Every work had something profound to offer, even the last one where a sort of fire slowly turned into water, the whole room was mesmerized by it. we were all sitting on the floor, hypnotized. Overall, it was the most amazing show, it made me sad about being human, and is driving the idea of ‘what is it like being human?’ in my practice right now.
Overall, it was one of the best shows I've ever been to, definitely the best video works I've seen, and you could really write essays upon essays on them.
