Bill Viola: Buried Secrets
A single color video image is projected onto a screen mounted on the wall of a dark room. In the image sequence, two women are seen engaged in conversation. They stand in the courtyard of an industrial space. As the two are talking, a third woman enters and approaches them. As they prepare to greet her, it becomes apparent that one of the women knows her quite well, the other less so, or perhaps not at all. A slight wind comes up and the light subtly shifts as the new woman comes closer. She greets the one she apparently knows, and as they embrace, she leans and whispers something to her friend, out of ear shot of the other. Introductions are then made, and pleasantries are exchanged between the three.
Recorded from a fixed camera position, the actions of the figures are seen
in extreme slow motion and are presented in a vertical aspect ratio. The entire
original event of forty-five seconds unfolds as an elaborate choreography
over the course of ten minutes. Subtle aspects of the scene become apparent.
Unconscious body language and nuances of fleeting glances and gestures become
heightened and remain suspended in the viewer's time of conscious awareness
and reflection. Minor shifts in light and wind conditions become central events.
At times the background becomes foreground, and other figures are seen in
the darker spaces behind the central figures, engaged in unknown activities.
The geometry of the walls and buildings appears to violate the laws of optical
perspective, and this, together with ambiguities in lighting, all lend a subjective
character to the overall scene. In the end, none of the figures actions or
intentions are explained or become apparent. The precise meaning of the event
remains in circulation as an ambiguous, speculative gesture open to diverse
interpretation.
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