famous American artist Bill Viola (Bill Viola) will release an experimental video game called "Night Journey". There will be no aliens or terrorists, which will need to kill, but if the player is too hasty to reach a new level, the surrounding beautiful landscape computer loses the clear outline.

«Success in this game will make someone who will go slowly, lost inside yourself, - said 59-year-old Viola. - Player completely alone, he does not know why it was abandoned there. It just falls from the sky and turns in this wonderful landscape - mountains, sea, forest, desert. He can go wherever he wants. The more carefully he would, the more he opens ».

Creativity Viola and the world of computer games - the phenomenon at first glance incompatible. The artist became famous for a video installation, where he covers such topics as life and death, human consciousness and spirituality. When the children were young Viola, he played with them in video games, but this activity seemed to him not very interesting. But he was intrigued by the technology used in the manufacture of games, as well as the concept of virtual reality. Ten years ago, Viola decided to create a game that has its story "path to enlightenment." He began to develop this idea in conjunction with a company in San Francisco, but the project was not completed.

In 2005, Viola was introduced to staff of the Laboratory for Innovation in video games (Game Innovation Lab) at University of Southern California. "They wanted to work with someone like me, and I, in turn, was waiting for someone like them." Along with programmers laboratory Viola began to look for ways to incorporate elements of previous work in the space of video games.

artist wanted his game visually reminiscent shestiekrannuyu installation Pneuma (1994), in which the figures seemed to show through the shadow and return to it. This work, which occupies an entire room, recently exhibited at Viola in the New York gallery James Cohan. Presented in the exhibition of 18 works worth up to 525 thousand dollars. The installation was created with black and white infrared cameras, the artist bought at flea market for $ 250. One of the programmers spent nine months out to recreate on a computer "grainy" texture this video.

Sometimes during the game screen turns black, and the remote control stops working. The idea is that a person who seeks enlightenment, must at some definite time to trust an external force, to give her control over him. This idea "is present in most spiritual traditions" - so says Viola, who had long been interested in the points of convergence of Western and Eastern religions. Players who can no longer control events on the screen, will see the "dreams", the contents of which will depend on what action they took in the game until then. Dreams are generated from a search engine, which compiles a video made by the Viola in the past 25 years. Pictures can be alarming (jump out from the darkness of a dog wandering alone a child) or beautiful. Dreams - is the core of our world. I mean not only the nightmares that follow us someone running, but also dreams, somehow related to ancient cultures, "- says the artist, inspiring works of Islamic mystic Rumi and the Greek philosopher Plotinus.

If a player is traveling for a long time, his dreams are colorful and eventually kill him (along with a group of virtual people) to the luminous pavilion. "It's like the transmigration of souls", - said Viola, who removed the material for the relevant "scenes" in Hawaii, during the night of the volcanic eruption.

«Night Journey" will be released in the middle of this year . The game has already been demonstrated in the Foundation Art and Creative Technology in Liverpool, as well as several festivals, where it tested both avid gamers and newcomers alike. According to Viola, the players were satisfied. He has not yet decided whether to sell "Night Journey" as a normal game, or is intended solely for its museums.

In 1991 the artist suffered a tragedy - his mother died. It was then he realized that his art speaks of "life and death" and not about "aesthetics and technology." This depth features all the works of Viola, including the project "The Messenger" (1996) for the cathedral in the English city of Durham. In this monumental figure of video shows a naked man, shimmering under the thickness of the water and slowly rising to the surface. A man punches his body water "wall", to inhale and again falls into the water. According to the artist, "The Messenger" is a metaphor for the life cycle and the mysteries of human existence.

«Messenger" could not admit to the show: the British law, any video of a naked male body can be attributed to pornography. But the church leaders recognized the "spiritual significance" of this work and unanimously agreed to of its exposure in Durham Cathedral. Later the video shows in other English churches, and even drove over the border. In 2004, "The Messenger," was exhibited in the Cathedral of St. Paul, after which the leaders of the church and Viola started to negotiate the creation of "videoikon" for this main temple in England. Last year it was announced that the artist will present an installation consisting of two plasma screens, which will be shown videos about the Virgin and the passions of Christ. It is expected that work will be completed by 2012.

Viola for the first time agreed to the project, whose content is determined not to them. He studied art and religious texts, including the Apocrypha. "One part of my work speaks about women and female energy, the other - about violence and victimhood - says the artist, who is going to start filming later this year. - In today's world, these themes are provocative».

material prepared Yulia Maksimova, AI

Sources: artnews.com , artinvestment.ru