ADRIAN PIPER One video artist committed to using her art to
effect social change—in particular, to combat pervasive racism—is
Adrian Piper(b. 1948). Appropriately, her art, such as the installa-
tion Cornered (FIG. 36-82), is provocative and confrontational.
This piece included a video monitor placed behind an overturned
table. Piper appeared on the video monitor, literally cornered behind
the table, as she spoke to viewers. Her comments sprang from her
experiences as a light-skinned African American woman and from
her belief that although overt racism had diminished, subtle and
equally damaging forms of bigotry were still rampant. “I’m black,”
she announces on the 16-minute videotape. “Now let’s deal with this
social fact and the fact of my stating it together....Ifyou feel that
my letting people know that I’m not white is making an unnecessary
fuss, you must feel that the right and proper course of action for me
to take is to pass for white. Now this kind of thinking presupposes a
belief that it’s inherently better to be identified as white,” she contin-
ues. The directness of Piper’s art forces viewers to examine their own
behaviors and values.
BILL VIOLA For much of his artistic career,Bill Viola(b. 1951)
has also explored the capabilities of digitized imagery, producing many
video installations and single-channel works. Often focused on sensory
perception, the pieces not only heighten viewer awareness of the senses
but also suggest an exploration into the spiritual realm. Viola, an Amer-
ican, spent years seriously studying Buddhist, Christian, Sufi, and Zen
mysticism. Because he fervently believes in art’s transformative power
and in a spiritual view of human nature, Viola designs works encourag-
ing spectator introspection. His recent video projects involve using
techniques such as extreme slow motion, contrasts in scale, shifts in fo-
cus, mirrored reflections, staccato editing, and multiple or layered
screens to achieve dramatic effects.
The power of Viola’s work is evident in The Crossing (FIG.
36-83), an installation piece involving two color video channels
projected on 16-foot-high screens. The artist either shows the two
projections on the front and back of the same screen or on two sep-
arate screens in the same installation. In these two companion
videos, shown simultaneously on the two screens, a man surrounded
in darkness appears, moving closer until he fills the screen. On one
screen, drops of water fall from above onto the man’s head, while on
the other screen, a small fire breaks out at the man’s feet. Over the
next few minutes, the water and fire increase in intensity until the
man disappears in a torrent of water on one screen (FIG. 36-83) and
flames consume the man on the other screen. The deafening roar of
a raging fire and a torrential downpour accompany these visual im-
ages. Eventually, everything subsides and fades into darkness. This
installation’s elemental nature and its presentation in a dark space
immerse viewers in a pure sensory experience very much rooted in
tangible reality.COMPUTER GRAPHICS Perhaps the most promising new
medium for creating and manipulating illusionistic three-dimensional
forms is computer graphics. This new medium uses light to make
images and, like photography, can incorporate specially recorded
camera images. Unlike video recording, computer graphic art allows
artists to work with wholly invented forms, as painters can. Devel-
oped during the 1960s and 1970s, this technology opened up new
possibilities for both abstract and figurative art. It involves electronic
programs dividing the surface of the computer monitor’s cathode-
ray tube into a grid of tiny boxes called “picture elements,” or pixels.
Artists can electronically address pixels individually to create a de-
sign, much as knitting or weaving patterns have a grid matrix as a
guide for making a design in fabric. Once created, parts of a com-36-82Adrian Piper,Cornered,1988. Mixed-media installation
of variable size; video monitor, table, and birth certificates. Museum
of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
In this installation, Piper, a light-skinned African American, appeared
on a video monitor, “cornered” behind an overturned table, and made
provocative comments about overt racism and more subtle bigotry.
36-83Bill Viola,The Crossing,1996. Video/sound installation with
two channels of color video projection onto screens 16high. Private
collection.
Viola’s video projects use extreme slow motion, contrasts in scale,
shifts in focus, mirrored reflections, and staccato editing to create
dramatic sensory experiences rooted in tangible reality.1 ft.1022 Chapter 36 EUROPE AND AMERICA AFTER 1945