Slowly, he soaks a piece of white cloth in a water pail, avoiding the abrupt jet from the shower. The Italian Renaissance composition sets the stage for a ritual on video. The man is cleansing each part of his body, performing a meticulous exercise. Early in 1975 Viola had created an installation, Il Vapore, where a videotape of his solitary performance was presented. Since that early piece, water has always signified for him spiritual purification as a constituent element of our physical being.
Water also promises the revelation of another realm.
In Viola's work water functions as the quintessential experiential element and joins the physical with the spiritual side of the body. Otherwise there would be no taking in of what preceded. For 'taking in' any vital experience is something more than placing something on the top of consciousness over what was previously known. On the left wall run images like an earthquake of natural elements and muddled images of bodies. With the aid of a computer switcher, peace is confronted with chaos at an ever-increasing rhythm.