Bill Viola Research Paper

Bill Viola is a contemporary video artist. His artistic elements draw on electronic, sound, and video technology in order to create his work. Viola focuses on fundamental topics such as human birth, death, and the way the mind works. A lot of his work is very blunt and simplistic – given his focus; that is really the only way he can describe what he is trying to describe. The interesting part of Viola is not just his art, but also the way he sees the world; his art serves simply as a catalyst for this. Despite his simple way of viewing, Viola has lived a colorful life; he worked some interesting jobs such as a video technician, a technical director in Florence, and even worked odds and ends jobs on many different islands. His work is mainly …show more content…
He is mainly recognized from his works, The Quintet Series, An Ocean Without a Shore, Observance, The Tristan Project, The Night Journey, and Bodies of Light. In these works Viola uses his methods in order to express his appeals towards that of the significance of human fundamentals. These works got him very well known as an artist. Not just for the quality or how good they were, but also because of just how different they were from the rest of the art community. Watching one of Viola’s films is like stepping outside of your body for a second and into that of the contemplative. His work not only highlights fundamentals, but also inspires viewers to question things like, why are they fundamental? Why are they so important? And just why do we feel or thing the way we do? These questions are not answered by Viola, they are simply asked through his work. He gives his fans the questions, asking viewers what they make of them. That is the greatest thing about Viola, he is not making a statement; rather a question and he is giving the inspiration required for his fans to create their own statements. His work touches fans and critics alike and this is why he has become such a great modern day name in the art …show more content…
'I dove in, but I forgot to let go and I went right to the bottom like a stone. I saw probably the most beautiful image I have ever seen in my life, which was a blue world, filled with things moving, little things on the bottom.” Bill Viola, February 26th, 2015. Viola is praised on his ability to provide simplicity in order to allow his viewers’ to discover his hidden message more easily. This is why Viola has so many fans; his work is not as complex as other artists in this day and age. He is able to do this by his use of that of the obvious – he really makes his ideas and concepts stick out in his work. His methods really help this aspect but it is an aspect of his work on it’s own. People nowadays like to have things put bluntly; and unless you are one of the few who likes to travel through layers and layers of a person’s mind to find one simple message, Viola’s work will be extremely appealing to your fast paced, impatient mind – though you might have to be a bit patient in order to sit through some of his drawn out works, painfully in painfully obvious is not just put their for intellectual