Bill Viola: Slowly Turning Narrative
Bill Viola: Slowly Turning Narrative
On view at LACMA for the first time in almost 20 years, Slowly Turning Narrative (1992) is a room-sized video installation by Bill Viola in the museum’s collection. An acknowledged pioneer of video art, Viola was crucial in establishing video as a major medium in contemporary art. Slowly Turning Narrative offers Viola’s characteristically hypnotic sense of wonderment at the world and also reveals the fullness of his philosophical vision.
Slowly Turning Narrative includes two projections on a large central rotating screen. One presents images of virtually everything that constitutes life, embracing the broadest sweep from birth to death. The other shows a close-up of Viola’s head incanting “the one who lives,” “the one who acts,” “the one who reads,” and more. As this screen rotates, a mirror on the back comes into view, reflecting the image of the viewer in this video evocation of human existence.
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by Kitzia and Richard Goodman, Meredith and David Kaplan, and Jeffrey Saikhon, with generous annual funding from Terry and Lionel Bell, the Judy and Bernard Briskin Family Foundation, Kevin J. Chen, Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation, Emily and Teddy Greenspan, Earl and Shirley Greif Foundation, Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross, Mary and Daniel James, David Lloyd and Kimberly Steward, Kelsey Lee Offield, David Schwartz Foundation, Inc., Mr. and Mrs. Anthony and Lee Shaw, Lenore and Richard Wayne, Marietta Wu and Thomas Yamamoto, and The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation.
Image: Bill Viola, Slowly Turning Narrative, 1992, video/sound installation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Modern and Contemporary Art Council Fund, installation view, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2020, © Bill Viola Studio, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
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This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by Kitzia and Richard Goodman, Meredith and David Kaplan, and Jeffrey Saikhon, with generous annual funding from Terry and Lionel Bell, the Judy and Bernard Briskin Family Foundation, Kevin J. Chen, Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation, Emily and Teddy Greenspan, Earl and Shirley Greif Foundation, Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross, Mary and Daniel James, David Lloyd and Kimberly Steward, Kelsey Lee Offield, David Schwartz Foundation, Inc., Mr. and Mrs. Anthony and Lee Shaw, Lenore and Richard Wayne, Marietta Wu and Thomas Yamamoto, and The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation.
Image: Bill Viola, Slowly Turning Narrative, 1992, video/sound installation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Modern and Contemporary Art Council Fund, installation view, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2020, © Bill Viola Studio, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA