The very first video experience I had was in high school. They brought a black-and-white closed-circuit surveillance camera into the classroom. I will never forget, as a kid, looking at that image. Bill Viola blackbringcamera Change image and share on social
There's another world out there just beyond the world we're in. It's just on the other side of that translucent, semitransparent surface. Bill Viola semitransparentsidesurface Change image and share on social
Art is, for me, the process of trying to wake up the soul. Because we live in an industrialized, fast-paced world that prefers that the soul remain asleep. Bill Viola artasleepfast Change image and share on social
Creativity is not the property of artists alone. It's a basic element of the human character, no matter what culture you're in, no matter where you are on Earth or in history. Bill Viola artistbasiccharacter Change image and share on social
A lot of what making art is, is just being open, and empty. And putting yourself in the right place for things to, literally, come together. Bill Viola artemptyliterally Change image and share on social
If you look at landscape in historical terms, you realize that most of the time we have been on Earth as a species, what has fallen on our retina is landscape, not images of buildings and cars and street lights. Bill Viola buildingcarearth share on social
The human brain is probably one of the most complex single objects on the face of the earth; I think it is, quite honestly. Bill Viola braincomplexearth Change image and share on social
Since the time of St. Jerome, it was mandatory for any kind of scholar or thinker to spend time out in the desert in solitude. It's no coincidence that the desert has been a major part of the visionary or mystical experience from the beginning of time. Bill Viola begincoincidencedesert share on social
My works really begin in a very simple way. Sometimes it's an image, and sometimes it's words I might write, like a fragment of a poem. Bill Viola beginfragmentimage Change image and share on social
The world is fine and everything is normal and then, bang, you just get bowled over by the wrathful deities somehow. That happens in very small ways and happens in very large ways when you have a major conflagration in the world. It's another cycle of existence of human beings. Bill Viola bangbeingbowl share on social
