Bill Viola: The Raft

Bill Viola has been instrumental in the establishment of video as a vital form of contemporary art. His video installations envelop the viewer in image and sound by means of state-of-the-art technologies and are distinguished by their precision and direct simplicity. The Raft was created by Viola in 2004 as a commission for the Athens Olympics. In this work, a group of nineteen people are dramatically subjected to physical forces of nature. The ten-minute piece visually represents a moment of disaster and its aftermath, as experienced by a cross-section of humanity. hilliard.org.