The Passing plot
Billy Viola makes this documentary on the occasion of the death of his mother. It is a special image-sculpture in which the artist wants to get a grip on the incomprehensible aspects of the transition from life to death and from death to life. The viewer loses the sense of time due to the strongly slowed-down display of the images. 'The Passing' offers a synthesis of a period in Viola's work. The video opens with an image of a night sky giving way to a jet of water, in which an almost invisible figure fights to stay above. Will this person be able to survive?