Last night I was invited to meet up with a friend at the Museum of Fine Art in Houston to take part in the perks of free admission on Thursday. After some initial confusion as to which museum we were supposed to meet at, I assumed science while she assumed art, we finally made it to the right spot. Our time was split mostly between two exhibits, Color Into Light: Selections from the MFAH Collection and Indonesian Gold Gallery. Both exhibits were enjoyable, but Color Into Light held pieces and installations that still have me amazed today.
Bill Viola’s Ascension is particularly noteworthy for the spectrum of feelings his work creates using a 10-minute video and dark room. From a few yards away I noticed an small room containing a bench and a video of bubbles playing on a deep blue screen. This immediately intrigued me due to my affinity for the ocean and water in general. I walked into the room, sat on the bench, and imagined myself breathing in the deepest, bluest depths. The ambient noise of bubbles and water slowly faded and soon the screen was a very dark blue. It was hard to resist the relaxation, so I remained on the bench with my friend eventually taking a seat beside me. We sat quietly chatting as I explained how the bubbles drew me into the room. Suddenly, a man plunges into the water on the screen causing me to jump.
From Bill Viola's Ascension
There are bubbles everywhere, but he does not struggle. He appears to float up to the top for a second encouraging my visions of him fighting to break the surface or someone pulling him out of the water from above. Neither happen and he instead makes a painfully slow descent to his death. It was unimaginable to believe that such a short film could take me from the point of relaxation to dread to hope to…to I don’t even know where else. The other pleasure of this exhibit is the voyeuristic aspect of watching the reaction of other museum go-ers as the man drops into the water. Definitely got some giggles from that one.
It also must be mentioned, as a disclaimer, that I am not a fan of the pieces that almost evoke an audible “what the f— were they thinking” or “why would the museum pay for this?”. As an artist I appreciate innovation, asthetics, and unconventional beauty even if it is not preferable to my tastes. Alternatively, I get a little fired up when I still see pieces that are hardly discerable from the stuff hanging on the walls of kindergarten classrooms. Yes, this collection did have pieces like that, but it also had ones that provided gasps of pleasure and inspiration. I wrote down several of the latter and will write more about those artists later. Feel free to beat me to the punch and check it out firsthand.
