Gian Pablo @ ITP

"Stations" is installed in a darkened room, and consists of 5 vertically oriented screens playing a monochromatic video. In front of each screen, on the floor, is a polished dark stone slab, positioned in such a way that the video is reflected in it and inverted. The slabs reflect the video, correcting the orientation but placing the figures below the apparent plane of the floor. The five channels of video each represent a nude human figure floating in water, seen from below the waterline and inverted (head down). Every once in a while the video shows the person splashing into the water, accompanied by a loud splash.

Photos of Bill Viola's "Stations" at the MoMa

The level of technical accomplishment is very high - the video is of high quality, shot underwater, carefully lit and processed. The physical installation is of impressive scale (the images are larger than life size) and the placement of the stone slabs is very precise and formal, bringing to mind a mausoleum.

The initial impression is startling: five pale headless human bodies, apparently emerging from a rippling surface and swaying slightly, like some kind of plant. The viewer is allowed to examine a human body in a different way, as a kind of depersonalized yet living thing. On further inspection you realize that one of the figures is a pregnant woman, a common theme in Viola's work, and a clue that he'll be dealing with themes of life, birth and rebirth.

Immersion in water (another common theme for Viola) is also symbolic of birth, so it's pretty obvious that we're dealing with stages of life: birth (splashing into water), growth (pregnancy) and death (the tomblike aspect of the installation). I'm pretty sure examining the human figures more closely would probably reveal yet more meaning, since Viola typically uses people of different ages to represent the passage of time.

The name of the work, "Stations", confirms that we are dealing with stages of life (a human being's passage through time), and also brings to mind the stations of the cross in a Christian church, tying together neatly with the solemn, tomb-like atmosphere of the piece. The nudity of the human figures and their suspension in space is also reminiscent of images of the crucifiction.

I very much enjoyed the work, could spend quite a lot of time experiencing it. The level of technical accomplishment is very high, combining excellent sound & video with a powerful, theatrical setting. The perspective in which the human figures are shown is startling and unexpected (it opens up a new "way of seeing"). Every element of the work is tied together by, and supports, a powerful central theme - the passage of a human being through time.