Bill Viola’s “Video Black—The Mortality of the Image” Response

Bill Viola’s “Video Black—The Mortality of the Image” Response

Bill Viola provides a sort of historical account and metaphor for photo images. He believes that images are mortal in the context of video but may otherwise be immortal in their own right when people esteem them to such a status. He discusses how mankind can attach meaning to objects and images which may elevate them to iconic status. They become a part of rituals, traditions, how we communicate, and they hold sentimental value, but they themselves are static and vain. They can depict and document historical events, however they only achieve relevance through human acknowledgement, use and appreciation.

The inextricable relationship between the image’s value and someone viewing it is the life of the image. Viola’s personification of photo images fixates an idea that video is practically a disposable use of photos. In a stream of sequencing, photos are but a means to a literal end, a fade to black after their brief flash on a screen. It leaves me to meditate on the life of a photo in the context of the video. If video is the sequencing of photos, then the essence of video is photo images, so they don’t die right? However, if Viola’s gripe is that each individual photo in the sequence loses its value, other than to serve as a transition in the illusion of motion, then I see his point. 

Viola spends a lot of time discussing the black. He really illustrates the idea of infinite reflection and visual feedback in the pupil. I see this as a depart from the discussion of the mortality of images, and more of a philosophical take on how we draw meaning from black. Which the self-reflection inspired by blackness provides a link to the importance of the video fading to black. The black at the start of the video allows the viewer to empty their headspace to make room for the new information that is about to flash on the screen. The black at the end of the video gives the viewer a chance to now reflect on what ideas and emotions the images conjured up. Which ironically keeps the imagery alive in our brains, even if not still on display on the screen.