Bill Viola

The Dreamers Bill Viola 2003.

In this piece, Viola presents a video of seven different portraits of people underwater, all presented sleeping. The video was accompanied by the soft sound of water. The video shows the people from the waist up with their hands at their sides, on their stomachs, or on their chests. Each person shown lies clothed, just under the water's surface almost completely still. The only part of their body that may move was their fingers, and the motion was very slight.Viola often uses water in his pieces. He revealed that when he was six years old he fell to the bottom of a lake and saw a profoundly beautiful world. He believes that his art may be influenced by that event. The people in The Dreamers give a sense of peace by their facial expressions and body language, similar to how Viola expressed his experience at the bottom of the lake.