“When you’re making video,” Bill Viola said in 2009, “you’re giving structure to time, which is what a composer does.” In Slowly Turning Narrative, a video installation that hasn’t been shown for almost 20 years, Viola composes. Two screens depict life. The first flies through pivotal moments—birth, death, and the milestones in between—and the second shows a close-up of Viola’s head, chanting “the one who lives,” “the one who acts,” “the one who reads.” In his customary way, Viola is time’s puppetmaster. —E.C.

Bill Viola: Slowly Turning Narrative
–
Los Angeles County Museum of Art / Los Angeles / Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art / Los Angeles / Art
Bill Viola, “Slowly Turning Narrative,” 2019. Courtesy of LACMA, Los Angeles
Visit
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036, USA
Get Directions »
Start a New Search
Subscribers Only
Start your free trial to access the full Arts Intel Report
Subscribe to Air Mail to access every article
and search our entire Arts Intel Report.
Already a subscriber? Sign in here.