Bill Viola Movies
- 2006

Poem B (The Guest House)
Poem B (The Guest House)02006HD
In this artwork, we witness the residue of a life through the objects and structures that surround a solitary older woman: color and black-and-white...
![Poem B (The Guest House)]()
- 2000

Ascension
Ascension02000HD
A man sinks down rapidly into the watery depths, but his inevitable and extended ascension's entire sequence, which was only a few seconds in real...
![Ascension]()
- 1975

A Non-Dairy Creamer
A Non-Dairy Creamer91975HD
Viola describes A Non-Dairy Creamer as "the eradication of the individual by self-consumption." The artist's face, visible only as a reflected image...
![A Non-Dairy Creamer]()
- 2000

Anima
Anima02000HD
Anima, which means “soul” in Latin and is the root of the word animation, is from a series of works inspired by Renaissance paintings of...
![Anima]()
- 1977

Memories Of Ancestral Power
Memories Of Ancestral Power01977HD
The rituals and philosophies of indigenous non-Western cultures recur throughout Viola's work. In 1976, he travelled to the Solomon Islands with...
![Memories Of Ancestral Power]()
- 1984

Reverse Television - Portraits of Viewers
Reverse Television - Portraits of Viewers61984HD
"Reverse Television" was created in the mid-1980's by video artist Bill Viola. The 30-second portraits were about portraiture and the idea of a...
![Reverse Television - Portraits of Viewers]()
- 2016

Mary
Mary02016HD
Moving through its five parts, the work describes a cycle of birth through to death, depicting both an eternal, universal Mary, and an earthly Mary...
![Mary]()
- 1975

The Semi-Circular Canals
The Semi-Circular Canals01975HD
The title of The Semi-Circular Canals refers to the portion of the human ear that regulates balance. Viola constructed a platform on which he and the...
![The Semi-Circular Canals]()
- 1975

Playing Soul Music to My Freckles So They Won't Get Lonely
Playing Soul Music to My Freckles So They Won't Get Lonely71975HD
Playing Soul Music to My Freckles is a minimalist performance in which a bare loudspeaker, playing an Aretha Franklin song, is seen on the artist's...
![Playing Soul Music to My Freckles So They Won't Get Lonely]()
- 2000

The Quintet of the Astonished
The Quintet of the Astonished02000HD
The Quintet of the Astonished shows the unfolding expressions of five actors in such extreme slow motion that every minute detail of their changing...
![The Quintet of the Astonished]()
- 1977

Guadalcanal Requiem
Guadalcanal Requiem71977HD
One of Paik’s most overtly political and poignant statements, Guadalcanal Requiem is a performance/documentary collage that confronts history,...
![Guadalcanal Requiem]()
- 1982

Ancient of Days
Ancient of Days7.11982HD
Ancient of Days is a remarkable series of "canons and fugues for video" that comprises Viola's most sophisticated structural and metaphorical...
![Ancient of Days]()
- 2011

A Phrase from Chris
A Phrase from Chris92011HD
“Transfiguration refers to a rare process whereby both the substance and essence of an entity is reconfigured. In physical terms, a...
![A Phrase from Chris]()
- 1983

Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House
Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House5.21983HD
This haunting installment contains a solitary wood chair with headphones attached, facing a television monitor. A man (the artist himself), looking...
![Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House]()
- 1976

Truth Through Mass Individuation
Truth Through Mass Individuation01976HD
The title of Truth Through Mass Individuation references Carl Jung. An isolated figure is seen performing successively more aggressive actions...
![Truth Through Mass Individuation]()
- 1977

Memory Surfaces and Mental Prayers
Memory Surfaces and Mental Prayers01977HD
Memory Surfaces and Mental Prayers is a collection of works that address the desire to transcend the perceptual and cognitive structures of...
![Memory Surfaces and Mental Prayers]()
- 1979

The Reflecting Pool
The Reflecting Pool5.31979HD
Viola's seminal piece, The Reflecting Pool, was made three decades ago on analogue video tape and yet could easily pass for a contemporary digital...
![The Reflecting Pool]()
- 1977

He Weeps for You
He Weeps for You01977HD
A drop of water emerging from a small brass valve is magnified by a video camera and projected on a large screen. The close-up image reveals that the...
![He Weeps for You]()
- 1975

Red Tape: Collected Works
Red Tape: Collected Works01975HD
Red Tape -- Collected Works Bill Viola 1975, 30 min, color, sound Playing Soul Music to My Freckles 1975, 2:46 min, color, sound A Non-Dairy...
![Red Tape: Collected Works]()
- 1970

Processing the Signal
Processing the Signal01970HD
![Processing the Signal]()














