BILL VIOLA "VIDEO BLACK"- THE MORTALITY OF THE IMAGE AND JOHN CAGE "PERFORMANCE AND PROCESS"

The idea that there is a video camera somewhere that shuts off (the perpetual observer) is a concept that play with constantly. These are the events that go unnoticed. The act of seeing these unnoticables in it self make you feel special when you, as an artist, do notice them. I feel as if it is my duty as an artist to show the rest of the world these moments too. I feel that Bill Viola might think along the same guidelines as this. It is "life as art." It is also a process known as being mindful of your surroundings in order to produce a more happier and meditative state. When being mindful, all that really is is looking and focusing on just the now and not things that have happened in the past of that might happen in the future. Being aware of the moment.

I was reminded of Viola when visiting my boyfriends family out in Elizabeth, IN by the river. We all hang out by the bonfire and 4-wheel or go walking on the riverbank. Eventually the girls and guys end up splitting up and the girls migrate into the house while the guys tinker around outside and drink beer. while inside I was suddenly hyper aware of my surroundings as I sat on the couch staring at a barge drift by through the window and the smell of firewood was all around me. In the background at static chattering of 4 generations of women filled my ears, and in that moment I felt as if were a work of art in which could not be reproduced as a painting, drawing, or object. I knew that this moment would never play out like that again and if only that video camera that never shut off was there to capture it. Instead, I turned into the perpetual observer. The background chattering of all the women also reminded me of John Cage in that their gossip was a performance in it self and part of the process of the entirety of the composition.
"A performance of a composition which is undeterminable of its performance is necessarily unique. It cannot be repeated. When performed for a 2ND time, the outcome is other than it was. Nothing, therefore is accomplished by such a performance, since the performance cannot be grasped as an object in time." -John Cage (Performance and Process)