The Reflecting Pool

The Reflecting Pool

Bill Viola
1977-79, 7 min, color, sound

Description

In this work, all movement and change in an otherwise still scene is confined to the reflections on the surface of a pool in the woods. Suspended in time, a man hovers in a frozen, midair leap over the water, as subtle techniques of still-framing and multiple keying join disparate layers of time into a single coherent image. Viola writes that "the piece concerns the emergence of the individual into the natural world — a kind of baptism."

Available on

The Reflecting Pool – Collected Work 1977-80
1977-80, 62 min, color, sound