Li Jiahui (1940-2010) was a member of Fujian Artists Association, and a dean and associate professor of the Art Department in Jimei University. He devoted all his life to the creation of art and incor ...... Read More >>
By Singing Palette The tragic fall of troubled artist Amedeo Clemente Modigliani is a story that shares some similarities with the death of Edgar Allan Poe who is American Romantic Litterateur in ...... Read More >>
Paris Photo has always been one of the must fairs of photography lovers. As one of the biggest photography fair in the world, Paris Photo is an important international fair. You can both enjoy the mas ...... Read More >>
Multimedia art (also called new media art) is a new form of art which comes into being at the end of 20th century. It is not only the combination of language, pictures, sound, video, text and other me ...... Read More >>
Artur Bordalo's "Owl Eyes"Portuguese street artist Artur Bordalo uses mixed media to create his own interpretations of the urban landscape and environment. He often composes his works using ...... Read More >>
John Singer Sargent (1856－1925) was an American artist and a senior fellow of the American National Watercolor Society. He created more than 2000 watercolor paintings and 900 oil paintings all his lif ...... Read More >>
Along the River during the Qingming Festival, ink and pigment on silk, is 0.252 meter wide and 5.287 meters long. It is a genre painting of Northern Song dynasty and the only reserved masterpiece by Z ...... Read More >>
Bernard Ewell is probably the only Dalí appraiser who can be called independent and objective. He talks about the stories of some players in the market of Dalí’s Sculptures in his recent work Artful D ...... Read More >>
Multimedia art (also called new media art) is a new form of art which comes into being at the end of 20th century. It is not only the combination of language, pictures, sound, video, text and other medium, but also the integration of hearing, seeing, touching and tasting. Now, some of the major art museums already regard multimedia art as the category of conventional media art. They edit the collection and plan the exhibition of multimedia art the way they do for paintings, sculptures, photography and others.
Over the years, the American multimedia artist Bill Viola (1951-) has been capturing the movement of human and water with high definition camera and then display the process in a slow motion on the screen with amplified images. In this way, he expresses his multi-perspective interpretation of time through senses.
Visitation 2008, Artist: Bill Viola Color High-Definition video on plasma display mounted on wall Like the display of Viola’s other works, the huge digital screen is the only light source in the totally dark exhibition room.
At the beginning of the video, there is only black and white snowflake shining on the screen. Later, amid the grainy appears a pair of black and white human images. As time goes on, the two figures approach gradually and it becomes clear that they are two old women. The curtain of falling water is invisible unless someone touches it.
The first woman goes through the curtain in doubt and fear. Then her image turns to high definition color. Encouraged by the first woman, the second one also travels through the curtain and turns to color. They cry and hug each other. The realm behind the curtain remains black and white while its front (faces the audience) is in color. They seem to be two different worlds. In the end, the two old women slowly pass the curtain and retreat to the world of black and white, disappearing in the black and white snowflake.
What the artist wishes to express through the video is the passing of time and women’s quest and the paradox and helplessness of their mind. After conquering their doubt and fear, they go through the curtain of falling water and gain their rebirth. However, they have to go back to the boring and painful past in the end.
All through the video, the two characters are communicating with the audience through eye contact. There are no actors’ lines. You can hear only the sound of water and breath. The interactivity between the work and the audience is an important form of performance and also a way in which multimedia art express its themes.
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