Editing Bill Viola (section)

=== ''The Tristan Project'' ===
In 2004, Viola embarked on ''The Tristan Project''. At the invitation of opera director [[Peter Sellars]], he created video sequences to be shown as a backdrop to the action on stage during the performance of [[Wagner]]'s opera [[Tristan und Isolde]]. Using his extreme slow motion, Viola's pieces used actors to portray the metaphorical story behind Wagner's story, seeing for example the first act as an extended ritual of purification in which the characters disrobe and wash themselves before finally plunging headlong into water together (in Wagner's story, the two characters maintain the facade of being indifferent to each other (necessary because Isolde is betrothed to Tristan's uncle) before, mistakenly believing they are going to die anyway, and reveal their true feelings). The piece was first performed in Los Angeles at Disney Hall on 3 separate evenings in 2004, one act at a time, then given complete performances at the [[Bastille Opera]] in Paris in April and in November 2005.<ref>Adrian Searle: [https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2006/jun/29/1 Bill Viola: Haunch of Venison/St Olave's College, London], The Guardian, June 29, 2006</ref> The video pieces were later shown in London without Wagner's music in June to September 2006, at the [[Haunch of Venison]] Gallery and St. Olave's School, London. The Tristan project returned, both in music and video, to the [[Disney Hall]] in Los Angeles in April 2007, with further performances at New York City's [[Lincoln Center]] in May 2007 and at the Gergiev Festival in [[Rotterdam]], The Netherlands, in September 2007.<ref name="NPR"/>