The Fall into Paradise

Bill Viola, The Fall into Paradise, 2005, single-channel video installation, high-definition, color, sound; 09:58 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2012.56, © 2005, Bill Viola
Bill Viola, The Fall into Paradise, 2005, single-channel video installation, high-definition, color, sound; 09:58 minutes, dimensions variable, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2012.56, © 2005, Bill Viola

Artwork Details

Title
The Fall into Paradise
Artist
Performers
Date
2005
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
dimensions variable
Copyright
© 2005, Bill Viola
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums
Mediums Description
single-channel video installation, high-definition, color, sound; 09:58 minutes
Classifications
Highlights
Object Number
2012.56
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2012.56

Artwork Description

Bill Viola explored themes of transformation and transcendence from emotional, philosophical, and spiritual perspectives. In The Fall into Paradise, a single pixel appears in the void, then slowly expands to reveal two figures entwined in an embrace. Just at the instant the figures become clear, they explode through the surface into a spectacular display of color and light. The performers' experience represents a moment of transcendental and spiritual breakthrough, tracing Viola's continuing search for consciousness and empirical knowledge through art.

Watch This!: Revelations in Media Art, 2015

Works by this artist (731 items)

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Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Juan Gris drawing), late 1960s, collage on masonite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 2002.58.20
Untitled (Juan Gris drawing)
Artist
Datelate 1960s
collage on masonite
Not on view
Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Rorschach drawing), n.d., drawing, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.408
Untitled (Rorschach drawing)
Artist
Daten.d.
drawing
Not on view
Joseph Cornell, Bonjour M. Balzac (Peau de Chagrin), 1971, collage, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.309
Bonjour M. Balzac (Peau de Chagrin)
Artist
Date1971
collage
Not on view
Joseph Cornell, Untitled (white cockatoo and other birds), 1969-1971, collage, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.297
Untitled (white cockatoo and other birds)
Artist
Date1969-1971
collage
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2012.56 - 2012.56_1a.jpg - 88539
Watch This! New Directions in the Art of the Moving Image (3.0)
April 30, 2013–February 15, 2015
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Watch This! New Directions in the Art of the Moving Image is a series of rotating exhibitions drawn from SAAM’s permanent collection.

More Artworks from the Collection

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Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled, 1982, oil stick and waxed crayon on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Sam Rose and Julie Walters, 2018.16
Untitled
Artist
Date1982
oil stick and waxed crayon on paper
Not on view
Jeff Donaldson, Victory in Zimbabwe, 1980, mixed media on cardboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum Purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2019.1, © 2018, Estate of Jeff Donaldson
Victory in Zimbabwe
Artist
Date1980
mixed media on cardboard
Not on view
"Prophet" Royal Robertson, Space Gun Drawing, n.d., pencil, marker, paint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1998.84.30
Space Gun Drawing
Artist
Daten.d.
pencil, marker, paint on paper
Not on view
Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Rorschach drawing), n.d., drawing, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, 1991.155.408
Untitled (Rorschach drawing)
Artist
Daten.d.
drawing
Not on view