The Fall into Paradise

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: Bill Viola
Performers: Sarah Steben
John Hay
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: video
Mediums Description: single-channel video installation, high-definition, color, sound; 09:58 minutes
Classifications: Media Arts
Highlights: Time-Based Media
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.

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