Unit 35: Video installation LO1 Task 3

Installations of pieces of work are very important and can have a massive impact on the
effectiveness of the exhibition and effect on the audience. The way you in which you install
your work is important as you want to reflect and impact it further, for this reason it works
better when you create something professional, unique, interesting and presentable. There
are many different ways that artists install their work as shown by the people I have
researched below, they can range from a simple screening of their production to a whole set
and design built around the piece of work to impact and effect their work. The more
professional and higher standard of installation the more serious and professional the
audience will think of the artist as. This is why it is very important to impress the audience
with how you present and install your work. If the work is poorly presented, with not much
effort or inspiration the less effect it will have on the audience, they will not be interested and
think of work as a lower standard as you have presented it poorly.
Bill Viola
Bill Viola is an American contemporary video artist. His work focuses
on human fundamental experiences such as, birth, death and aspects
of consciousness. One of his most famous video arts projects is called
Ocean without a shore, made in 2007 and installed in a church of San
Gallo in Venice. It was seen by over 60,000 people throughout its
duration, the idea was to explore into life and death.
http://artblart.com/2009/02/24/review-ocean-without-a-shore-videoinstallation-by-bill-viola-at-the-national-gallery-of-victoria-melbourne/
Ocean without a Shore is about the presence of the dead in our lives. The
three stone altars in the church of San Gallo become portals for the passage
of the dead to and from our world. Presented as a series of encounters at the
intersection between life and death, the video sequence documents a
succession of individuals slowly approaching out of darkness and moving into
the light. Each person must then break through an invisible threshold of water and light in order to
pass into the physical world. Once incarnate however, all beings realise that their presence is finite
and so they must eventually turn away from material existence to return
from where they came. The cycle repeats without end.
Viola is exploring life and death. The experiment consists of people
standing in the foreground with nothing but
black behind them. Each of them seem to
produce gallons of water from themselves as if
they were waterfalls. The water comes gushing
out of their bodies as if they are being reborn.
The very last individual is an elderly man who
actually glows a supernatural green while
dozens of gallons of water erupts from his
body. There are 2 individuals in the middle of
the piece who only seem to trickle water, while
all the others produce a waterfall of water (Sal
2008). Viola says that this piece is about how
the dead are undead. That once they get through the water they are
conscious again.

http://youtu.be/cyMWn8ebItU
This piece by Bill Viola was originally installed in the small and intimate 15th century Venetian
church of San Gallo. He wanted to install he project here to incorporate the architecture of
the building and atmosphere, he used the three existing stone altars as support for the video
screens. The small space works really effectively for his installation as it makes it feel
claustrophobic and atmospheric as it makes it dark and uncomfortable. This creates a visual
representation of what his work and emphasises the effect on the audience.
This project uses its installation to emphasise the narrative and meaning behind the project.
The way it has been installed makes the audience be active by interacting with the
installation. The narrative of this installation by Bill Viola makes the audience more involved
and takes them on a journey through the project by the way it has been installed. Some
installations use narratives to make the audience more interested and captured by the
artists work. The narrative can change between the actual exhibitions having a narrative or
simply by the way the installation has been laid out and the order in which the audience see
the project.
Since the installation in 2007 it has since been moved to The National Gallery of Victoria in
Melbourne. For the piece of video art to have the same effect of the church it has been
recreated in a small room.
Douglas Gordon
Douglas Gordon is a Scottish artists, one of his most famous
pieces of work is 24 hour psycho, for this project he slowed
down Alfred Hitchcocks film psycho so it lasted for 24 hours.
The installation and exhibition of this project was Douglas
Gordon's first solo show was in 1986. In 1993, he exhibited 24
Hour Psycho in the spaces of Tramway, Glasgow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtLg5TqqVeA
Douglas Gordon wanted to exhibit 24 hour psycho to take a
different approach on the classic and famous film, the
installation has many of important themes of Gordons work.
These are; recognition and repetition, time and memory,
complicity and duplicity, authorship and authenticity, darkness
and light.

Douglas Gordon installed the extended vision of

psycho, 24 psycho on big screens. To create this
work he slowed the film down to two frames per
second compared to the original of 24 frames per
second, this made the whole length of the film longer
and spread out to 24 hours. He wanted to do this
because he wanted to slow the film down so that
people would see more than they would normally at the

normal speed. As the installation was so long it

was impossible to watch the whole thing
although he made it so that you could watch for
half an hour to an hour and be able to see
certain elements you wont have noticed before.
Compared to Bill Viola Gordons work is a lot
simpler and just uses screens in a room, this still
works effectively as he portrays the meanings in
his exhibitions. For example his 24 hour psycho
using the technique of duration. This is different
to Bill Violas work as he uses a lot more effects,
for example he uses locations to impact his work more, this is shown is his installation of
ocean without a shore. Bill Viola uses more visuals and effects to make his work more
effective and the audience more infatuated and engrossed in his installations. Douglas
however uses a simpler approach of big screens in a studio setting, this also makes his
installations effective as the audience have nothing to distract them, and they are completely
focused on the projected productions.
This installation uses no narrative for it, the way the screens are positioned and the size of
them is enough to keep the audience interested and emphasizes the project enough.
Because of the length of the project is the main meaning behind the project, the way it is
installed doesnt have to be as interactive with the audience as they just have to be a
passive audience. This means that all the audience have to do is watch the installation. Not
having a narrative works well for this installation because it allows them not to get distracted
by anything interactive or the lay out of the installation, therefore the large projected screens
are enough to install the project effectively.
Task 4
Spartacus Chetwynd
Spartacus Chetwynd is a is a British artist
known for reworking of iconic moments from
cultural history in deliberately amateurish and
improvisatory performances. She as an
artists likes her work to stand out over
everyone elses. This is shown in how she
installs her work are exhibitions. I really like
this installation, especially how she has used
multiple screens to show the different parts of
the videos. This works very well as it a very
creative and more interesting way
to watch the production, also
because it is interesting, different
and eye catching the audience are
more attracted to it and be more
interested in watching the work.
Also the way this has been
installed has an effect on the
audience by emphasises the title
of the piece of work, the title is
Hermitos Children. The way in

which she has used multiple screens relates to how as children life is more exciting and
interesting, also as your life can change and develop into something you would never had
thought. Also the other aspect that I think works well and creates a really nice relaxed area
for her installation is the bean bags for chairs. This creates a really comfy and casual
environment for the audience to sit and enjoy her work. Exhibitions and installations can be
tiring especially if they are showing longer pieces of work therefore it is a nice idea to
arrange somewhere for people to sit. I think the idea to use bean bags also is reflective of
the piece of work and title as bean bags are often used by children and younger people. I
think altogether that this installation works really well and is very effective for the audience, I
think it also it is displayed really well for the piece of work it is.
Marie Jo La Fontaine
Marie Jo La Fontaine is a French contemporary
artist, she has many different ways to install her
work at exhibitions. One of the best ways in which
I think she has done this is by creating a more
unique and interesting way of showing her work
using a box architecture created by her then using
multiple screens around the architecture showing
the productions. This I believe works really well as
an installation as it is something completely different and more interactive with the audience
as they get to walk around and see the project as they walk around the boxes playing the
production. This makes the whole experience of the exhibition more interesting and
enjoyable.
Not only does Marie Jo La Fontaine use this style for her installation but also has a more
basic way of showing her work. In another exhibition she has used a similar style to Douglas
Gordon by showing work projected on big screens, however Fontaine has used a lot more
larger screens in her installation. I think that this works really well as the work becomes more
intense and over empowering as it fills the room and becomes a lot to take in as you first
look at the screen.

From the artists installations I have researched the one I want to take most inspiration from
for my installation is Marie Jo La Fontaine installation using the multiple large screens. This
is because I want to create my installation to look similar and use the same effects. For
example I want mine to be in a dark environment with no ambient lighting, just the light
created by the screens themselves. If I had the money and equipment I would use the same
size screens and make it more effective by playing it at different parts on the different
multiple screens.