Bill Viola vs Michelangelo Buonarroti

Experience during the exhibition definitely won't be forgotten.

Dark rooms, disquieting noises, frightening and controversial videos interspersed with Michelangelo;s pieces of art.

These eccentric installations were made by Bill Viola. This modern artist takes us on a jourey from birth, through life, to death. He undermines the reason of human life and tries to understand being itself. He made twelve projections in which he shows how transience human life is. For him, life is just a quick flesh which is about to disappear in a split second and this is inevitable. He used videos as a medium, a tool to capture and reflect inner states. While walking around the exhibition, there is an impression that everything is flowing because author often used water, fire and flume motives to show that life is fleeting. The videos also aim to reflect human perception to the world based on thoughts, memory and the subconsciousness.

Artist who had a very big impact on creation of the exhibition is Michelangelo. Viola was impressed by Michelangelo's ability to present such preciese emotions using human body. On his pieces of art, this renaissance man often concentrated on psychical states of being, on birth, death and ressurection. Because of his faith, sacral themes, which are full of symbolism, were commonly appearing in his works. He had similar approach to life as Viola. Michelangelo once said: '... All disapear; and our ancient lineages are as shadows to the sun, smoke to the wind. Like you we were men, happy and sad, as your are; but now we are, as you see, dust in the sun, deprived of life.' '...Such is the work of time.' (Michelangelo, c.1520.)

They both tackle the most mysterious questions of life, death and birth. Viola explaines that our life, in this short period of time, is about interplay between our inner being and the body - the external and internal worlds. What Michelangelo did, was separating two kinds of love as an example. First one is carnal lust and the second one is spiritual one which elevates the sould to heaven. He wanted to show that in life, in general, there are two present powers. Materiality and the presence of the divine. All of this refer to the fate of the soul. There is one mystery that no one can resolve - ressurection. There was only one moment in the history when life was triumphing over death and the artist presented it on many drawings because this is what christians do believe in. The only sense of life.

What happens during our lifetime and after our soul leaves the body is what the whole exhibition is trying to make the visitors reflect on.