Australia/Japan - Bill Viola: the Shock of the Blue

Although the powerful St Saviours video installation was on for a brief time only, there is still time to catch 'The Fall Into Paradise' at AGNSW. LF has taken to visiting this extraordinary short work whenever at the AGNSW (which has been often of late), purely for the exhilarating shock when the two bodies hit the water. We urge you to go see this if you haven't done so, preferably in an altered state. Grouped under the title 'The Tristan Project', these videos form part of the spectacle that Viola helped create for Peter Sellars' production of Wagner's 'Tristan ad Isolde' for the Opéra National de Paris, which continues to tour the world, and premieres in Japan soon.

SYDNEY
Bill Viola: The Tristan Project: 'The Fall Into Paradise', 2005
Level 2 Contemporary Projects Space
until 27 July 2008

Bill Viola: The Tristan Project: 'Fire Woman' and 'Tristan’s Ascension' (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall), 2005
St Saviour's Church, Redfern
9 April - 17 May 2008

JAPAN
Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner, Opéra National de Paris.
Conductor: Esa Pekka Salonen, Director: Peter Sellars, Video: Bill Viola
Premiere: July 20, 2008, 3:00pm, Hyogo Performing Arts Center
July 27, 31 2008: Bunkamura Orchard Hall

Left above© Bill Viola: still from 'The Fall Into Paradise' 2005. Video/sound installation. Photo: Kira Perov
Left below© Bill Viola: still from 'Fire Woman' 2005. Video/sound installation. Photo: Kira Perov