Silent Mountain

Another video that Bill Viola made from The Passions exhibit is Silent Mountain. The color video was silent and displayed on two screens mounted side-by-side on the wall. One screen has an actress and the other an actor. At the beginning they look panicked and anxious and as the video progress the feelings become more and more obvious. Eventually they both start screaming, but without sound you just see their torso and face.

Bill Viola has said that the 15th century painting "The Anonciation" by Dieric Bouts inspired him. He said this about the painting, "The Virgin turning away from the Messenger, the Archangel Gabriel, as he brings the news- her eyes downcast, hidden, as her hands rise, closing to form the gesture of prayer, or opening in a gesture of acceptance? In any case here is the painter's ecsatic leap into the world of movement." So, he was making the video and trying to make it as if it was a painting. They move slowly and the camera doesn't move so at times it's almost like you're not watching a video, you're watching a paiting move.

I found this very interestings. While watching it I felt like i could hear the people yelling, their faces and body movements made me hear the sound that wasn't there. Bill Viola said, "Probably the loudest scream I have ever recorded is in the soundless work Silent Mountain." I really felt bad for the people in the videos. They appear to be in so much agony and you watch them progess as something gets them more and more upset. It really made me think about me own feelings of empathy. I enjoyed this video and am finding myself enjoying video art more now.


"The Anonciation" by Dieric Bouts





"Silent Mountain." Bill Viola: The Passions. The J Paul Getty Museum, 2003. Web. 8 Mar. 2010. .