If Bill Viola’s engagement with the cathedral is therefore not new, it still represents a step forward of profound significance. It is less his stature as an international artist which sets him apart — though this is of no small importance — it is more Bill Viola himself and his particular vision which breaks new ground. In his work we glimpse mystery through the ordinary and everyday, the transcendent through the immanent, just as the Cathedral itself through its physical presence and its life and worship also speaks of the eternal through the human.

It was for this reason that the Chaplaincy first invited him to the north east to explore the possibility of a commission. After his second visit we were delighted that he should agree to create a new work for the Cathedral as part of the celebrations in 1996 of the UK Year of the Visual Arts. We knew that his acceptance of the commission would provide a guarantee that the work would be both intensely spiritual and of a scale appropriate to its immense setting- a profound meditation on life and being itself.

All of this could only have been achieved with vision, will and co-operation. For this our debt of gratitude must be expressed especially to Bill Viola for accepting the commission. The conceiving and making of this work were not the only demands which faced him; there were also the specific difficulties of installing it within a living and working Cathedral with worship at its heart. All of these challenges he met with enthusiasm, sensitivity and humility.

His vision, will and co-operation were matched in fullest measure by my colleagues in the Project Planning Group — Felicity Sparrow, Paul Rubinstein, James Bustard and Peter Davies — and by the Dean and Chapter of Durham. It is with delight, then, that we welcome The Messenger, Bill Viola’s personal and artistic response to Durham Cathedral. It is the hope of the Chaplaincy to the Arts and Recreation that many, here and elsewhere, will find in this work a source of spiritual enrichment.
Bill Hall (Preface to "The Messenger" catalogue, copies of which are available from Bill Hall)

The Messenger'
1997 Fruitmarket Interview

Bill Hall was interviewed by Amanda Hogg for an audio guide for visitors to the exhibition of "The Messenger" at the Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, from 7 June - 26 July 1997. The text of that interview is reproduced here with the consent of the gallery.

AH: Can you tell me why you, a representative of the church, should have commissioned 'The Messenger'?

BH: The Chaplaincy has been in existence for about 30 years and this commission should be seen within the wider context of our work - and part of that work has included commissions. The stimulus for this particular commission was Visual Arts U.K. 1996 was, as you know, to be the Year of the Visual Arts and the Northern Arts Region, it was agreed, would host this national celebration of the visual arts. We are based in the Northern Arts' area - that is where most of our work takes places - so we wondered what we might do to help to celebrate the visual arts in 1996.

We decided to commission a work for Durham Cathedral. The Cathedral was an obvious choice. It's a World Heritage building, it's been the focus of a number of Chaplaincy initiatives, such as the Artist in Residence Scheme that we established in 1983, and there have been other commissions in various art forms. We were aware that permission to place a permanent work in such an important building is fraught with difficulties, but did we want to site a permanent work? There was a tantalising precedent of an earlier commission that was both temporary and site specific. In 1995, we had commissioned Tony Sinden to make a video installation for the Cathedral. There was, then, the appealing prospect of repeating what was a successful initiative with this particular art form, temporarily sited during the year of the Visual Arts. A temporarily sited piece was more likely to be approved by the Dean & Chapter than a permanent one. But more than this, there was an attractive combination. On the one hand there was the Cathedral, with its magnificent architecture and 900 years of history, making a powerful statement. On the other hand, there was an artist using contemporary technology to make a powerful statement in that building. Here was an exciting prospect of a conversation, a conversation between Cathedral, artwork and the viewer.

That deals with the art form, but why did you choose Bill Viola?

The choice of artist became clear when I went with Northern Arts' Visual Arts Officer to see Bill Viola's show at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. The work was absolutely right. It was the work of an artist dealing with the most important issues of our inner lives, the very essence of spirituality. Meeting Bill himself was confirmation that, should he agree, he was the artist from whom we would like to commission a work for the Cathedral.

So what were the terms of the commission?

I asked that the work should be his personal and his artistic response to the Cathedral, its life and faith. There is always some element of risk when commissioning an artwork but I was confident that with this particular artist there was no need to be more specific than that general invitation. I knew my instincts were right when together we visited Durham Cathedral. He responded very humbly. He commented on the Cathedral's beauty, its majesty, and its sheer physicality. He referred to the way in which as a place it seemed charged. There is the cumulative impact of 900 years of worship by countless individuals and he commented on the way in which this has created, simultaneously, both a public place and a private place as individuals go there. These weren't simply words; he was clearly moved by the experience. In fact some time passed while he considered whether or not to accept the commission and, believe me, that was an anxious time for me.

Do you feel then that it would have been safer to commission a Christian artist?

There are very good artists who are Christians and, in one sense, it might have been safer to commission an artist who is a Christian. Safety though was never an issue, power and the spiritual content of the work and its ability to promote dialogue were, and that's why Bill Viola was offered the commission. I should add, a number of these very good artists who are also Christians have told me of their great appreciation of the work Bill has created.

Maybe as an aside, I would add that Christian artists anyway can have their own specific dangers to face in making art. Flannery O'Connor's comments on the 'sorry religious novel' can apply equally to other art forms. He points to the danger of the Christian artist thinking that the eyes of the church, or the Bible, or a particular brand of theology have already done the seeing and that the role of the artist, is then no more than to arrange this essential vision into satisfying patterns. I repeat: by no means does this apply to all Christian artists. A safe piece of work, though (as you put it) in these terms, would not have had that power or that spiritual dimension nor the ability to provoke a dialogue, the conversation I referred to earlier as part of the criteria. In short, others might have succeeded in this, Bill certainly has.

So 'The Messenger' began life as a site-specific work?

Yes, in terms of its original inspiration and its original siting. Its themes though are universal. Bill was sensitive to the way in which the builders of the Cathedral had connected with something that goes down to the roots of our experiences as human beings. He compared his experience of being in the Cathedral with some of his most moving experiences in nature. I remember he compared the sight of a mountain breaking through the clouds. The cathedral, he said, had that sort of impact on him.

The primal images featured in 'The Messenger' came as no surprise. After all, primal images such as those of fire and water are quite prominent in Bill's work. They are also prominent in most religious traditions too. If then the use of water as a dominant image was no great surprise, the work itself certainly was. I remember very well the first time that I saw it. It has to be said that I had a very great expectation for the work, but it exceeded even this. I was simply amazed by Bill's achievement in creating a work that provided a powerful spiritual meditation and at the same time, in terms of both the pace and space, was absolutely right for the building.

Let us take those ideas one at a time. First could you speak about 'spirituality'?

That fundamental - elemental - image of a body submerged in water slowly emerging into light and taking a breath of life speaks very powerfully of birth and re-birth, of life and new-life, of dying and rising again. The way the body dissolves into fragments of light as it submerges to the depths of the water speaks powerfully of creation. Is the light in water or is it in space? In either case, these are important elements in creation. The fragments then come together as from the dust, as from the Big Bang. Add water and then breath, or spirit, as the figure breaks the water and we have human life. It's a powerful metaphor.

Individuals come to this work with their own experiences with their own insight. They respond and, of course, it's this response, this process of interpretation, which gives life to a work of art. There are many responses to 'The Messenger'. The most moving for me included the responses of the mother whose son had drowned, of others who had recently experienced the pain of bereavement and of the two people who, independently, told me of their clinical depression. They had one thing in common; they all described a feeling of calm and, in some cases, healing or therapy in the presence of 'The Messenger'.

The language of the work has a universality that helps it to speak to many people in many different situations. The Cathedral itself and the original position of the work, near the font, provided a specific link between the rich imagery and the Christian sacrament of baptism with its concepts of birth, death and new life. One critic also pointed to the proximity of 'The Messenger' to the rich and colourful imagery of the stained glass window above it. This particular window depicts the ancestors of Christ finishing on the image of the Holy Lamb in a halo of light. The Lamb of God is the climax of a religious story for which, the critic suggests, Bill Viola appears to be supplying a beginning. Yes, spiritually this is a powerful work.

You also said it was right for the Cathedral in terms of pace, what do you mean by this?

What I mean is that when tourists come into Durham Cathedral, they seem to slow down. Its immensity, the sense of what has happened there over the centuries, its religious tradition all communicate themselves to the visitor almost without their realising it. Instinctively they seem to realise that if they rush about at their normal speed they won't get anything out of the experience. Somehow Bill manages to echo that in 'The Messenger'. The pace of the work visually and its accompanying sound help to draw the viewer into the work. The Dean of Durham drew attention to the fact that it takes some 30 minutes before anyone can enter into meditative prayer and that's approximately the length of the complete five cycles of 'The Messenger'. This has been borne out by those who have watched the work for the whole five cycles and then moved to another part of the Cathedral to continue their experience of stillness, of simply being.

You also said that the work was right in terms of space.

Yes, the power, the design, the sheer size of the Cathedral has a detrimental - usually overwhelming - effect on the work of many artists. The scale of 'The Messenger' was just right for it to make its contribution in this setting. It was big enough to hold its own, so that the Cathedral did not overwhelm it, but neither did it appear to shout and draw attention to itself. Quite simply, its scale was perfect. This was very obvious to those of us privileged to see it as the artist intended; that is without screens around it.

Can you tell us about the screens that were used in Durham?

This is a sensitive subject. I regret that screens were necessary, however, I would also recognise the position of the Dean and Chapter of Durham when they decided they had to place screens in front of the work. The Dean and Chapter have a pastoral responsibility, not least for vulnerable people who might wander into the Cathedral and be effected by the work. An example given was that of the possible damaging experience of a child who perhaps had suffered sexual abuse. In the event, I regret that many of those who were offended by the nakedness of the figure, were Christians. At the time I pointed out that on the other side of the door onto which 'The Messenger' was projected there was an image of another naked man and that was Christ on the cross. Now for some reason, presumably to protect our sensibilities, we've draped a piece of cloth over that figure. As a result I believe we've lost something of the impact of crucifixion. We have lost the impact of the vulnerability of the figure on the cross and the utter degradation of crucifixion as a means of execution. It's the same vulnerability that is present in the birth of Christ, in the incarnation. It is the vulnerability of a baby.

These are the themes that are very powerfully present in 'The Messenger'. There is human vulnerability, the threat of disintegration and the struggle towards new life. These are also themes present in any teaching on the birth and death of Christ, both Christmas and Good Friday. Incarnation is at the heart of the Christian faith and yet it is a sad fact that Christianity has always had difficulty with the naked human form. The nakedness of 'The Messenger' is no more than matter-of-fact nakedness. It is neither obscene nor erotic. It's essential for the metaphor and never again will 'The Messenger' be seen behind screens.

Can a site-specific work, which suited well its original setting, be transferred to another setting successfully?

Yes. As I said earlier, its power lies in the dialogue, in the response, in the conversation that it provokes. 'The Messenger' does this for many people, whether Christian or not. The Dean of Durham, for example, told me that he had had more interesting conversations on his beliefs in the few weeks that the work was in Durham than he had had in the last few years. I realise that that reaction is from a Christian, but there are similar reactions from others, of different faiths, and of no discernable faith at all. Dialogue is what they have in common. Dialogue is the function of all great art.

At the beginning of this conversation you asked why a representative of the Christian Church should have commissioned this work. The answer you remember centred on the importance of dialogue and of spirituality. These are at the hearts of the work of the Chaplaincy.

And spirituality is at the heart of so much questioning today as well.

Yes, traditionally spirituality took for granted the world-view they inherited, but that's not for us. We can't afford to be naïve. We know too much about nature and humanity. There are too many questions. Today theology must be a far more interactive discipline and more inclusive. The theologian reflects on human experience overall, albeit in the light of the Gospel and of living faith. What is the essentially "human" and how can we grow in our humanity? How can we become more fully human? These are questions at the heart of a Faith where you find incarnation, death and new life.

One of our bishops described the power of God's Holy Spirit as the power which opens eyes that are closed, hearts that are unaware and minds that shrink from too much reality. To my mind that could also serve as a description of the distinctive work of the artist, the stimulating work of the artist. We all come with different experiences and insights and together we are engaged in an exploration. It's a common exploration, and that's very exciting.

How then has this site-specific work responded to other settings?

Well I have now been fortunate enough to see 'The Messenger' not only in Durham Cathedral but also in the San Petriere Chapel in Paris, the Oratory adjacent to Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral and in the South London Gallery. In all these places, as here at the Fruitmarket Gallery, it provokes that essential dialogue to which I refer and it demonstrates effectively the distinctive role of the artist, the creative role of the artist. Eyes are opened, hearts are made aware and minds engage in seeking and understanding the essential reality of life. For all of this, we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Bill Viola.

"The Messenger" was commissioned by the Chaplaincy to the Arts as part of Visual Arts UK, a national celebration of the visual arts hosted by the northern region in 1996. The commission was supported from the proceeds of the National Lottery through the Arts Council of England, and by Durham City Arts, the European Regional Development Fund and Northern Arts.

For further information contact Bill Hall