Bill Viola is a very emotion based creator. He designs his installations to immerse the viewer into a process. the visuals on screen are often with water and people. Water plashing onto people. People coming out of and diving into water. Viola is concentrated on the unconscious. His work is meant to raise the unconscious out and onto the spotlight. Rising through a body of water is representational of finding a new way of looking at things. This experience is meant to provide a space for contemplation. What was under the surface for you? How does this make you feel? When you imagine a memory or emotion of yours as the subject coming out of the water is there a revelation there?
For many people this may not be very solidified. The "thing" that comes up from the unconscious might not be a full thought. It may be just a feeling or a word or a color. This is something found within all of Viola's work. Each installation of humans going through an experience. Having water in each project is a way to make the art wide. The broaden the experience for the viewer.
I feel a sense of longing when looking at The Raft. At the end when everyone helps each other up, I feel a longing for a similar human connection.
I feel a sense of sadness when looking at The Messenger. The recycling of a person coming up and back down seems to end once the person has sunk all the way down. The looping ends when the person perhaps drowns.
I feel a sense of freeness when looking at The Crossing. I can only imagine being the one under the water droplets and then an intense shower relentlessly falling on me. Joy, like Summer joy.
Using water in a piece is so intriguing because everyone signifies it as purity/cleanse but with their own twist. Him using it to represent unconsciousness is something I never thought water could be - especially since it makes water seem not secure despite it being secured in other pieces of media. I can see the connection, though, through your explanation where insecurity and water are some constants in life.
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