In some ways I guess this blog is here to demonstrate this one specific matter of fact: It’s almost impossible to talk about art. It’s extremely difficult to find words for transgressing experiences. I try, we try – again and again, but words tend to fail us. They become too many, or too vague; deficient, imprecise or obscure. They complicate the picture instead of illuminating it.

Still we can do nothing but try, again and again, to find the right words, to fail – fail better. Here is Bill Viola:

It might sound zen’ish, but Viola is not talking about emptying our heads, rather he is talking about bringing the heart of emotions into the picture:

We’re much too much in our head; thinking and talking. We need to bring our head down and our heart up. We need to bring our emotions in. We need to centre ourselves: Bringing the head & heart together.

And then he goes on to say:

Artists are the gift givers. A wonderful idea, isn’t it?!, Our time is limited, we have to take care of that, we have to leave something behind. What we leave behind could be anything –

In the spirit of Viola, I guess one could say that art is a gift for people to come.

Bill Viola: Five Angels for the Millennium (2001) © Bill Viola

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Bill Viola (1951), American video and sound installation artist.