The
Parish Church of St Cuthbert until September 1st
Four
stars
On a rectangular
screen that might be mistaken for a mirror, a woman and her two daughters walk slowly
towards the camera in silence. As they walk, these three graces occupy a fuzzy
greyness that makes them appear like classicist statues come to life as
sylph-like sirens. Once they step through some kind of waterfall, the rush of
water gives them life, and they stand in vivid colour, their dresses blue and
white. They peer out a moment, only to turn back into the greyness, the
youngest daughter lingering like Orpheus for one last look until she too steps back
in line towards the underworld.
Part of
seminal American video artist Viola’s Transfigurations series, Three Women
(2008) is a nine-minute video looped so the trio appear to be destined to
repeat their walk for Sisyphean eternity. The fleeting moment of transcendence
recalls Breath, Samuel Beckett’s even briefer matter of life and death. The
sheer spiritual beauty of the piece sees it perfectly placed in the chapel of
St Cuthbert’s in keeping with the appearance of many of Viola’s works in
churches. Seen in this way for Edinburgh Art Festival, it suggests not so much
an abyss, but a shadow line crossed.
The List, August 2018
ends
Comments