Bill Viola: Fire Woman and Tristan's Ascension

Friday 8 October - Saturday 23 October 2010
Mon to Sat, 7.30pm-10pm (last entry 9.30pm). Closed Sundays.

Free exhibition > St Carthage's Church, 123 Royal Parade, Parkville, Melbourne.

Image: Bill Viola, Tristan's Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall), 2005 Video/sound installation, 10:16 minutes Performer: John Hay Photo: Kira Perov

Pioneering American artist Bill Viola (b.1951) has been instrumental in the establishment of video as a vital form of contemporary art. For 40 years he has created videotapes, architectural video installations, sound environments, electronic music performances, flat panel video pieces and works for television broadcast.

His video installations - total environments that envelop the viewer in image and sound - employ state-of-the-art technologies and are distinguished by their precision and direct simplicity. His next major commission is the creation of two permanent altar pieces for St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

For the 2010 Melbourne Festival, together with Kaldor Public Art Projects and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, St Carthage's Catholic Church in Parkville is turned into a video art shrine complete with the latest technology, surround sound and enveloping operatic narrative.

Shown in a continuous loop, the two works, Fire Woman (2005) and Tristan's Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall) (2005), combine for a 20 minute visual and aural experience that extends Viola's lifelong engagement with the human condition into ancient themes of life, love and death.

These two immersive installations are derived from Viola's creation for Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde directed by Peter Sellars. Now separated from the opera, the stunning installations feature mythical and mystical apparitions set to their own new soundtrack, and can be experienced in all their glory in the sacred surrounds of St Carthage's.

Curated by Alessio Cavallaro and Kate Warren.
Presented by Melbourne International Arts Festival, Kaldor Public Art Projects and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. On loan from Bill Viola Studio.