Ancient of Days

Bill Viola

1979-1981

A color video with sound in which Bill Viola slows and isolates a single human figure interacting with water and light to make inner, spiritual states visible.

You'd be struck by a luminous burst of water enveloping a blurred, suspended body—an image like a frozen, watery halo rendered in grainy video and slow, resonant sound that stretches a simple gesture into a timeless, meditative moment.

This work helped define video art as a means for contemplative, immersive experience, marrying cinematic slow motion and elemental imagery to spiritual themes and influencing later large-scale video installations that treat time and perception as their subject.

Palette

Art Terms

Video Audio Media andperformance art Contemporary art Figurative Avant-garde

Exhibitions

Projects: Bill Viola

1979

Bill Viola: Installations

1987

Video and Ritual

1984

Projects: Video XIII

1977