Reverse Television Portraits of Viewers (1984)

Reverse Television was created in the mid1980s by video artist Bill Viola The 30second portraits were about portraiture and the idea of a person staring at the viewer as the viewer stares at the TV screen Conceived of as a microseries the work features 42 30second portraits of television viewers in their living rooms The portraits appear very formally composed with attention paid to composition lighting and color The viewers sit quietly only occasionally making a slight shift in position No external sound score has been added so that the only sounds heard are sync sounds that have been heightened These sounds include viewers clothing when they move swallowing and background noises such as traffic outside the viewers home or a dog barking in the distance