The image begins with a small, central, luminous, abstract form shimmering and undulating against a deep blue-black void. Gradually the luminous shape begins to get larger and less distorted, and it soon becomes apparent that we are seeing a human form, illuminated, rising towards us from under the surface of a body of water.
The water becomes more still and transparent and the figure more clear on its journey upwards towards us. We identify the figure as a man, pale blue, on his back rising up slowly. After some time, the figure breaks the surface, an act at once startling, relieving and desperate. His pale form emerges into the warm hues of a bright light, the water glistening on his body. His eyes immediately open and he releases a long held breath from the depths, shattering the silence of the image as this forceful primal sound of life resonates momentarily in the space.
After a few moments, he inhales deeply, and, with his eyes shut and his mouth closed, he sinks into the depths of the blue-black void to become a shimmering moving point of light once more. The image then returns to its original state and the cycle begins anew. (BV).
Artist statement reprinted with the kind permission of Bill Viola from the catalogue The Messenger, The Chaplaincy to the Arts and Recreation in North East England.
Supported by the National Lottery Department of the Arts Council of England.
The tour of The Messenger is being managed by The Pruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh on behalf of the Chaplaincy to the Arts & Recreation in North East England, who commissioned the work.
[LESS]The image begins with a small, central, luminous, abstract form shimmering and undulating against a deep blue-black void. Gradually the luminous shape begins to get larger and less distorted, and it soon becomes apparent that we are seeing a human form, illuminated, rising towards us from under the surface of a body of water.
The water becomes more still and transparent and the figure more clear on its journey upwards towards us. We identify the figure as a man, pale blue, on his back rising up slowly. After some time, the figure breaks the surface, an act at once startling, relieving and desperate. His pale form emerges into the warm hues of a bright light, the water glistening on his body. His eyes immediately open and he releases a long held breath from the depths, shattering the silence of the image as this forceful primal sound of life resonates momentarily in the space.
After a few moments, he inhales deeply, and, with his eyes shut and his mouth closed, he sinks into the depths of the blue-black void to become a shimmering moving point of light once more. The image then returns to its original state and the cycle begins anew. (BV).
Artist statement reprinted with the kind permission of Bill Viola from the catalogue The Messenger, The Chaplaincy to the Arts and Recreation in North East England.
Supported by the National Lottery Department of the Arts Council of England.
The tour of The Messenger is being managed by The Pruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh on behalf of the Chaplaincy to the Arts & Recreation in North East England, who commissioned the work.
