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Mediatheque
Bill Viola 比爾．維奧拉
I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like 我不知我何以為相
1986
A meditation on inner worlds and the nature of consciousness across species, I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like combines poetic images of animals, spiritual rituals, natural elements, and the artist himself. The work is structured in five chapters: ‘Il Corpo Scuro (The Dark Body)’, ‘The Language of the Birds’, ‘The Night of Sense, Stunned by the Drum’, and ‘The Living Flame’. The title alludes to a passage in the Rig Veda, a collection of ancient Sanskrit hymns held sacred in Hinduism that explores fundamental questions about the creation of the universe. Bill Viola’s film features images of birds, fish, and buffalo in zoos and in the wild; depictions of a traditional flesh piercing ritual in Fiji; and scenes of the artist reading and writing quietly in his study. One representative sequence includes an extreme close-up of an owl that appears to gaze at the viewer. A vivid encapsulation of Viola’s ongoing quest for self-knowledge and universal connection through his art, the bird’s eye subsequently reveals a reflected image of the artist. Through ethnographic observations and self-examination, Viola contemplates the profound links between human beings and the natural world.
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