Bill Viola - Tiny Deaths, 1993

When first walking into the screening room in which Viola's video was being shown, I didn't think much of it as the room was completely pitch black. However, as soon as a figure eerily faded into view and quickly flashed back out again, something about the piece caught me. I spent around 10 minutes sitting in the dark room with Chloe discussing our different takes on the piece.

The one thing that really stuck out to me were the muffled voices that continued in the background as the figures faded in and out. I closed my eyes and just listened - it gave off the sense as if you were under water or locked in a basement and there was a conversation going on overhead. This is an interesting starting point as it could be developed into taking away one of the senses, forcing another to really tune in and pay attention. However, another take on it, was that it felt like voices talking in your ear that you couldn't quite understand. It was quite unsettling. The piece experiments with the themes of spirituality, the possibilities of existence and how to test the audience's senses. It left me feeling unsettled but spurring with ideas.