Research on the Water Element in Bill Viola"s Video Artworks

Abstract

Video art emerged in the 1960s, and it is an avant-garde form of art. In the past, video art was regarded as “unreasonable and mystified nonsense” and “cultural terrorism.” Today, it has been accepted and recognized by the majority of the art world, thanks to the ineffaceable contributions made by video artists such as Nam June Paik and Bill Viola. Today, Bill Viola is one of the most respected video artists worldwide. He is constantly exploring the combination of art and technology, ceaselessly breaking the boundaries between different disciplines and art, and pushing video art to the forefront of contemporary art. He began using video as medium in the 1980s and integrated his thoughts and life experience into his works. Moreover, he produced a series of Bill Viola-style video artworks. This paper begins with the “water” element, takes video artworks as an example, focuses on the artist"s emotional expression, explores the spiritual world in Bill Viola"s works, and analyzes the reasons for the popularity of his works.