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September 20, 2005
Bill Viola: Statements 1985 & 1989
Bill Viola, The Passing, 1991
Read in conjunction, these two Bill Viola texts make an interesting statement about the relationship between time and space. In his 1989 "Statement," Viola states that time is the materia prima of a video artist, serving the same essential, baseline function that light serves for a painter or photographer. He posits that because the viewer only experiences each frame momentarily before it disappears (i.e., because the work is dynamic), a complete video work ultimately exists only the mind of the viewer. The main thrust of the 1985 "Statements" is that space is essential to Viola's work, and that it is inextricably caught up with the dynamic and destructive force of time. What Viola seems to be suggesting is that the experience of three-dimensional space differs from that of a two-dimensional art object in that the latter is inherently static while that former is inherently dynamic. In other words, the artistic essence or aura of a painting inheres in the painting itself, but the essence of a physical space -- at least, a space into which the viewer is invited -- lies in the viewer's memory of that space. This distinction, it would seem, is a function of the difference between experiencing a work from within the work itself, rather than viewing it from a distance.
Posted by Sai Sriskandarajah at September 20, 2005 10:11 PM