Bill Viola: Ascension

Entering the darkened Projects Gallery in the Salt Lake Art Center you are met with a wall-size projection of a serene underwater landscape that is suddenly displaced when a fully clothed man plunges into the water from above. Accompanied by a roar of sound and a luminous explosion of bubbles and turbulence, he slowly sinks with arms outstretched, his body limp and motionless. Rays of light undulate as streams of glowing bubbles ascend to the disturbed surface. Midway down, his descent slows and finally stops, his body remaining suspended in space. Is the man dead or alive? He does not move, but the water moves him. Very slowly, he begins to rise until he reaches the surface. There, air bubbles emerge from his mouth and he begins his involuntary descent again. He sinks into the depths and his body then disappears into the darkness. The landscape returns to its original peaceful state. Then, unexpectedly, the man plunges into the water again with a shocking explosion of light, sound and movement, as the video loops once more. Exhibition held in the Projects Gallery space.