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September 16, 2005
Bill Viola's obsession with gaps
After reading Bill Viola's statements, I noticed a common thread linking them: Viola's obsession with the gaps that exist between the perceived and the actual. He notes that he makes no distinction between these elements which is ironic considering it is he who brings these distinctions to our attention in his writings. (He does the same in his description of "unified senses" in "field perception.") Viola attempts, through his work, to draw attention to the difference between the way we perceive space and time and the way space and time "really" are. He demonstrates these gaps by forcing the viewer into a ceratin point of view, acknowledging that it is the point of view of "other," and showing us how that point of view is different from the way we would ordinarily perceive what he shows, allowing us to knowingly receive the information in ways that we ordinarily wouldn't, leading to his assertions that "perception over time equals thought," as well as the existence of what he refers to as "simultaneous interwoven perception."
Posted by Demi Pietchell at September 16, 2005 05:27 PM