#five angels

[peaceinthestorm]

Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-1898, British) ~ The Days of Creation : The Fifth Day, 1870-76

[Source: harvardartmuseums.org]

[cowboyshit]

[koredzas]

Donato de' Bardi - The Crucifixion. Detail. 1448

[cowboyshit]

[koredzas]

Sandro Botticelli - Madonna Adoring Child with Five Angels. 1485 - 1490

[briannamarie-art-blog]

Artist of Influence: Bill Viola

Jon Anderson was the first to introduce me to Viola’s work in our Contemporary Art Trends class and I have remained very intrigued by his work. It is amazing how the slowness and imagery of his work have an impact on my physical body when viewing them. This particular work is titled Ascension, which is part of a larger body of work called Five Angels for the Millennium. The installation of this work involves five large screens in a hallway, in which all the videos are playing at the same time. 

I’m interested in how Bill Viola’s work affects the viewer’s senses through his use of video and sound. When watching this piece, I found myself holding my breath and feeling the weight of the water on my own body. I could feel the person slowing drowning and it was deeply impactful on my own senses. Feelings of anxiety and fear came upon me when the figure was moving downward, while feelings of hope and relief came when the figure was floating upwards. I’m interested in how I can involve the viewer’s body through awareness of the senses.

[tatecollective]

Five angels - Bill Viola, 2003

A pioneer of film and video art since the early 1970s, Bill Viola employs both sound and image to profound effect. In Five Angels for the Millennium 2001, five individual video sequences (Birth Angel; Fire Angel; Ascending Angel; Creation Angel; and Departing Angel) are projected directly onto the walls of a darkened gallery.

"Five Angels came out of a three day shoot in Long Beach that I had undertaken for several other projects. All I knew was that I wanted to film a man plunging into water, sinking down, below, out of frame – drowning. A year or so later, going through this old footage, I came across five shots of this figure and started working with them – intuitively and without a conscious plan. I became completely absorbed by this man sinking in water, and by the sonic and physical environment I had in mind for the piece."

[deserthymns]

Josh Ritter - Five Angels (2012)

Josh Ritter has this ability to write these incredible little musical stories that are imbued with some indelible quality, unable to be forgotten or ignored. Here is yet another glimpse into the passion and talent that are forever swimming around in his head.

In 2011, Josh Ritter released his first novel. Just a few months ago, Mr. Ritter released the audiobook version of his novel, read by himself and including a nice little surprise. As one of the main characters in the book is an angel, Ritter gathered together his friends Chris Thile (Nickel Creek), Tift Merritt, and Josh Kaufman (Rocketship Park) and recorded a 5 song EP to be included with the audiobook, all of which dealing with the central theme of angels.

Anyone that knows me personally knows that I am a huge Josh Ritter fan, especially of seeing him perform live. This is a fantastic addition to an already fun and interesting career, and serves as proof that Ritter just loves what he does and is always on the lookout for new ways to do it.

Here is a link for "Girl In The War". If you want to hear the rest of the EP, you'll have to get your hands on the audiobook.

Rating: 8/10