Greeting is an act of communication in which human beings (as well as other members of the animal kingdom) ''intentionally'' make their presence known to each other, to show attention to, and to suggest a type of relationship or social status between individuals or groups of people coming in contact with each other. While greeting customs are highly culture- and situation-specific and may change within a culture depending on social status and relationship, they exist in all known human cultures. Greetings can be expressed both audibly and physically, and often involve a combination of the two. This topic excludes military and ceremonial salutes but includes rituals other than gestures.

Greetings are often, but not always, used just prior to a conversation.

Some epochs and cultures have had very elaborate greeting rituals, e.g., greeting of a king.

Secret societies have ''clandestine'' greeting rituals that allow members to recognize common membership.

Greeting gestures

A greeting can consist of an exchange of formal expression, a simple kiss, a hand shake or a hug. The form of greeting is determined by social etiquette, as well as by the relationship of the people.

Beyond the formal greeting, which may involve a verbal acknowledgment and sometimes a hand shake, facial expression, gestures, body language and eye contact can all signal what type of greeting is expected. Gestures are the most obvious signal, for instance greeting someone with open arms is generally a sign that a hug is expected. However, crossing arms can be interpreted as a sign of hostility. Facial expression, body language and eye contact reflect emotions and interest level. A frown, slouching and lowered eye contact suggests disinterest, while smiling and an exuberant attitude is a sign of welcome.

Throughout all cultures people greet one another as a sign of recognition, affection, friendship and reverence. While hand shakes, hugs, bows, nods and nose rubbing are all acceptable greetings, the most common greeting is a kiss, or kisses, on the cheek. Cheek kissing is most common in Europe and Latin America and has become a standard greeting in Southern Europe.

While cheek kissing is a common greeting in many cultures, each country has a unique way of kissing. In Russia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro the Netherlands and Egypt it is customary to “kiss three times, on alternate cheeks.” Italians & Hungarians usually kiss twice in a greeting and in Mexico and Belgium only one kiss is necessary. In the Galapagos women kiss on the right cheek only and in Oman it is not unusual for men to kiss one another on the nose after a handshake. French culture accepts a number of ways to greet depending on the region. Two kisses are most common throughout all of France but in Provence three kisses are given and in Nantes four are exchanged.

Written English

By convention, formal letters in English commence with the salutation "Dear" followed by the name or title of the recipient. If the name or title of the recipient is unknown, then it is conventional to write "Dear Sir," or "Dear Madam," or where the sex of the recipient is also unknown, "Dear Sir/Madam," or "Dear Sir or Madam" is used, or "To whom is may concern". In other forms of written communication (such as fax or email), or in informal messages the salutation is often absent or replaced with a personal variant.

In Other Languages

United Nations Languages

Arabic: مرحبًا / سلام (marḥaban/salām)

Chinese Mandarin: 你好 (nǐ hǎo)

English: Hello

French: Bonjour, Salut

Russian: Здравствуйте, Привет

Spanish: Hola, Buenos días

Other National Languages

Afrikaans: Hallo

Albanian: Përshëndetje

Armenian: Բարեւ Ձեզ (Barev Dzez)

Azerbaijani: Salam

Belarusian: Прывітанне (Pryvitannie)

Bengali: Namaskar / Salam/Adab

Bulgarian: Здравейте (Zdraveĭte)

Burmese: Mingalarba

Croatian: Bok (informal), Dobar dan (formal)

Czech: Ahoj (informal), Dobrý den (formal)

Danish: Hej

Dutch: Hallo

Estonian: Tere

Fijian: Bula Vinaka

Filipino: Hello/Kumusta

Finnish: Hei, Terve, Hyvää huomenta/päivää/iltaa (formal)

Georgian: გამარჯობა gamarǰoba, გამარჯობათ gamarǰobat (plural or formal), გაუმარჯოს gaumarǰos

German: Hallo (informal), Guten Tag (formal)

Greek: Γεια σας (Yeia Sas) for formality, Γεια σου (Yeia Sou) for informality, Γειά simple

Hebrew: שלום (Shalom)

Hindi: नमस्ते (Namaste)

Hungarian: Szia(sztok)/helló(sztok) (informal; sing./plur.); Jó napot kívánok (formal)

Icelandic: Hæ

Indonesian: Halo

Iran: سلام/salam

Irish: Dia Duit

Italian: Ciao (informal), Salve (semi-formal), Buongiorno / Buonasera (formal)

Japanese: こんにちは (Konnichiwa)

Korean: 안녕하세요 (An-nyeong-ha-se-yo)

Latin: Salve(te) [sing./plur.]

Latvian: Sveiki

Lithuanian: Sveiki

Macedonian: Здраво (Zdravo)

Malay: Apa khabar

Maltese: Merhba!

Nepali: नमस्ते (Namaste)

Norwegian: Hallo

Persian: سلام (Salam)

Polish: Cześć (informal), Dzień dobry (formal)

Portuguese: Olá

Punjabi: Sat Sri Akal

Romanian: Salut (informal), Bună ziua (formal)

Serbian: Здраво/Zdravo (informal), Добар дан/Dobar dan (formal)

Sinhalese: ආයුබෝවන් (Ayubovan)

Slovak: Ahoj (informal), Dobrý deň (formal)

Slovenian: Živijo (informal), Zdravo (informal) Dober dan (formal)

Somali: Haye

Spanish: Hola (informal), Buenos días (formal)

Swahili: Jambo

Swedish: Hej (informal), god dag/god afton (formal)

Thai: สวัสดี (Swạsdī)

Turkish: Merhaba

Ukrainian: Привіт (Pryvit)

Urdu: سلام (salām)

Vietnamese: Chào

Welsh: Helo

Yiddish: שלום עליכם (sholem aleikhem)

Regional Languages

Basque: Kaixo

Bavarian: Grüß Gott

Catalan: Hola

Chamorro: Hafa Adai

Chewa: Moni Bambo

Cree: Tansi

Frisian: Hoi

Hausa: Ina Uni

Hopi: Mike

Igbo: Nde-Ewo

Maori: Kia Ora

Marathi: Namaskar

Navajo:

Punjabi: Sat Sri Akal

Sulka: Marot

Tamil: Vanakkam

Zulu: Sawubona

Urhobo: Mavo

Gestures

Añjali Mudrā

Bowing

Cheek kissing

Eskimo kissing

Fist pound, in which two individuals touch fists

High-five

Pressing noses

Handshake

Hand-kissing

Hat raising or tipping

Hug

Kowtow

Namaste

Pranāma

Roman salute

Tehniyat

Waving, the gesture of moving one's hand back and forth

Wai

Voicemail greetings

Voicemail greetings are pre-recorded messages that are automatically played to callers, when the voicemail system answers the call. Some voicemail systems allow for different greetings to be played to different callers.

Telephone greetings

Most languages have alternate greetings to be used over the telephone. In this case, the greeting is meant to confirm whether the person on the other line is present.

The term "greeting" may also refer to a pre-recorded message replayed when the call cannot be answered.

Halló, jónapot kívánok Halló, tessék

Country/Language !! Owner answers phone !! Caller's response
Argentina	Hola?
Brazil	Alô?
Canada - Québec	Oui, allô?
China - Hong Kong	Wei / 喂
Catalonia	Digui?
Finland	Haloo?
France	Allô?
Germany	using family name, often with first name
Hungary	/
Iceland	Halló?
Iran	الو/alo .
Israel	Shalom.
Italy	Pronto.
Japan	Moshi moshi / もしもし
Japan	Hai / はい
Japan	Hai / はい
Korea	Yeoboseyo? / 여보세요?
Malta	Hello?
Mexico	Bueno.
Netherlands	using first and family name, sometimes only the first or family name is used.
Paraguay	Hola.
Portugal	Está?
Romania	Alo?
Russia	Slushayu vas. (Allyo?) / Слушаю вас.
Spain	Diga/Digame.
Spain - Catalonia	Digui?
Turkey	Alo? (Efendim?)
Venezuela	¿Aló?
Vietnam	A-lo?

See also

{|style="width:100%" |style="vertical-align:top;width:50%"|

Aloha

Ciao

Etiquette

Hare Krishna

List of greetings

Mahalo

Manners

Parting phrase

| style="vertical-align:top" |

Paschal greeting

Salaam

Salutation

Salute

Sat Sri Akaal

Shalom

Tashi Delek

Voicemail

|}

References

External links

http://www.wikihow.com/Say-Hello-in-Different-Languages

Category:Greetings

ay:Arunta cs:Pozdrav da:Hilseform de:Gruß et:Tervitus es:Saludo eo:Saluti diverslingve fa:درود fr:Salutation ga:Beannú do dhuine i dteangacha éagsúla gl:Saúdo ko:인사 hr:Pozdrav id:Salam it:Saluto he:ברכה (נימוס) la:Salutatio lt:Sveikinimasis nl:Groet (etiquette) ja:挨拶 pl:Powitanie pt:Cumprimento qu:Napaykuy ru:Приветствие sk:Pozdrav sv:Hälsning th:การทักทาย tg:Дурӯд zh-yue:打招呼 zh:问候

name	Half Pint
background	solo_singer
birth name	Lindon Andrew Roberts
origin	Kingston, Jamaica
instrument	Vocals
genre	Reggae, dancehall, ragga
url	http://www.halfpintmusic.com/ }}

Half Pint (born and sometimes credited Lindon Andrew Roberts) is a Jamaican dancehall, ragga, and reggae singer.

He released ''Money Man Skank'', recorded in the early 1980s by King Jammy, which possessed energy, ebullience and style that epitomised the dancehall feel.

Biography

He originates from the West Kingston enclave of Rose Lane; a community which has produced reggae acts such as Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Peter Tosh, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Toots Hibbert.

Half Pint began singing in the school choir at All Saints' Primary School. After the completion of his secondary education in 1976, he sought work as a vocalist within the Jamaican music industry. Half Pint toured the island with various sound systems including Black Scorpio, Jammys, Gemini, Lee's Unlimited and Killimanjaro. He subsequently worked with record producers such as Errol (John) Marshall; Errol (Myrie) Lewis; King Jammy; Sly and Robbie; George Phang; Jack Scorpio, Bobby "Digital" Dixon and Mass Hugh. He also collaborated with Garnett Silk, Tony Rebel and The Tamlins.

In 1983, Pint's first single, "Sally," was released followed by the song "Winsome," and both tracks became reggae hits. He continued to release songs that became hits in the local and international reggae scenes, including "Mr. Landlord," "Level the Vibes," "Substitute Lover" and the chart-topper, "Victory." Besides these singles, Roberts released a number of albums. His largest fanbases are in Europe, Japan, Brazil, and the West Coast of the United States.

Half Pint's 1983 Jamaican number-one song "Winsome" was covered by The Rolling Stones in 1986 although it was renamed "Too Rude" for their ''Dirty Work album''. The dub-punk group Sublime released a cover of Half Pint's "Loving" in 1996. Half Pint maintained his public profile by frequent touring and guest appearances. He has performed at music festivals and rock concerts. Half Pint's track "Giving/Sharing" was featured on the soundtrack album for the film, ''The Mighty Quinn'' (1989). His music has also been used on the films ''Substitute 2'' (1998), and the French comedy ''Mookie'' (1998). In 1998, Half Pint was signed with the BMG Music Publishing Company.

Despite being noticeably absent from the recording studios for most of this decade, Half Pint enjoyed relative success with ''Legal We Legal'' (his first studio album within a ten-year period). This was followed by a fifteen city US tour with Anthony B. Half Pint was presented with "The Key to The City of Lauderdale Lakes" by the Mayor of the Florida suburb in 2000. Half Pint was featured on Sly & Robbie's 25th Anniversary US Tour along with Tony Rebel and Heineken Startime appearances in December 2004 in Jamaica. Half Pint has worked with the California based band, DubCat. The New York based Sotti Records label released a Half Pint single in 2005, "Wha Ya Wan," an updated remake of his "Winsome" with R&B; singer DIA.

Half Pint was nominated and awarded the "Producer’s Respect Award" at the 26th International Reggae and World Music Awards held in New York City at the Apollo Theater on May 5, 2007. Half Pint headlined at the Jamaica 360 festival in Ocho Rios, Jamaica in May, and a return performance at the 15th Annual Reggae Sumfest in Montego Bay, Jamaica in July. He also released ''No Stress Express'' that year.

Sublime's 1996 hit, "What I Got", was based on the chorus of Half Pint's track "Loving".

Work with other musicians

Half Pint has been featured as a guest on a number of songs by other artists including:

"Pass It On" by Long Beach Dub Allstars, from the album ''Right Back''

"Life Goes On" by Long Beach Dub Allstars, from the album ''Wonders of the World''

"Sunday Afternoon" by Lucky Boys Confusion, from the album ''Commitment''

"Rivertown" by snow, from the album "Murder Love"

On 2006's "Bongidae! Silverback Music Festival" version, Dubcat featured on tracks "Level the Vibes", "Cost of Living" and "Winsome". Also, Half Pint collaborated with Slightly Stoopid.

References

External links

Official website

Official site for the International Reggae and World Music Awards

Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:People from Kingston, Jamaica Category:Jamaican reggae musicians

fr:Half Pint ht:Half Pint

name	Bill Viola
birth date	January 25, 1951
birth place	Queens, New York, USA
nationality	American
field	Video artElectronic ArtNew Media Art
training	Syracuse University, Syracuse
works	''Reasons for Knocking at an Empty House'' (1982)
influenced by	Alberto Giacometti, Joseph Beuys, Mark Rothko
awards	}}

Bill Viola (born January 25, 1951) is a contemporary video artist. He is considered a leading figure in the generation of artists whose artistic expression depends upon electronic, sound, and image technology in New Media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human experiences such as birth, death and aspects of consciousness.

Background

Viola grew up in Queens, New York, and Westbury, New York. He attended P.S. 20 Clinton Hill School, in Flushing, where he was captain of the TV Squad. On vacation in the mountains with his family, he nearly drowned in a lake, an experience he describes as “… the most beautiful world I’ve ever seen in my life” and “without fear,” and “peaceful”

In 1973, Viola graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor in Fine Arts. He studied in the Experimental Studios of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, including the Synapse experimental program, which evolved into CitrusTV.

His first job on graduation was as a video technician at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse. From 1973 to 1980, he studied and performed with composer David Tudor in the new music group "Rainforest" (later called "Composers Inside Electronics"). From 1974-1976, Viola worked as technical director at Art/Tapes/22, a pioneering video studio in Florence, Italy where he encountered video artists Nam June Paik, Bruce Nauman, and Vito Acconci. From 1976-1983, he was artist-in-residence at WNET Thirteen Television Laboratory in New York. In 1976 and 1977, he traveled to the Solomon Islands, Java, and Indonesia to record traditional performing arts.

Viola was invited to show work at La Trobe University (Melbourne, Australia) in 1977, by cultural arts director Kira Perov. Viola and Perov later married, beginning an important lifelong collaboration in working and traveling together. In 1980, they lived in Japan for a year and a half on a Japan/U.S. cultural exchange fellowship where they studied Buddhism with Zen Master Daien Tanaka. During this time, Viola was also an artist-in-residence at Sony Corporation's Atsugi Laboratories.

In 1983, he became an instructor in Advanced Video, California Institute of the Arts, in Valencia, California. In 1995, Viola represented the United States at the 46th Venice Biennale, for which he produced a series of works called ''Buried Secrets'', including one of his best known works ''The Greeting'', a contemporary interpretation of Pontormo's ''The Visitation''. In 1997, a major retrospective of 25 years of Bill Viola's work was organized and internationally toured by the Whitney Museum of American Art.

In 1998, Viola was Getty Scholar-in-residence at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles . Later, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000. In 2002, he completed ''Going Forth By Day'', a digital “fresco” cycle in High-Definition video, commissioned by the Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin and the Guggenheim Museum, New York. In 2003,''The Passions'' was exhibited in Los Angeles, London, Madrid, and Canberra. This was a major collection of Viola's emotionally charged slow motion works inspired by traditions within Renaissance devotional painting.

In 2004, Viola began work on a new production of Richard Wagner's opera ''Tristan und Isolde'', a collaboration with director Peter Sellars, conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and executive producer Kira Perov. The opera was premiered at the Opéra National de Paris in 2005 and Viola's video work was subsequently shown as ''LOVE/DEATH The Tristan Project'' at the Haunch of Venison Gallery and St Olave's School, London, in 2006. During 2007, the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo in Sevilla www.caac.es, organized an exhibition at the Palace of Charles V in la Alhambra- Granada- in which Viola's work dialogues with the Fine Arts Collection of the museum.

In 2009, Bill Viola was awarded the 2009 Catalonia International Prize, known as the XXI Premi Internacional Catalunya 2009 by the Catalonian government of Spain. The award honors an individual "whose creative work has made a significant contribution to the development of cultural, scientific or human values anywhere in the world.". In Spain it has been published his first biography entitled "Viola on Vídeo", written by Federico Utrera (King Juan Carlos University).

Art work

Bill Viola's exhibition profile, which includes the National Gallery, London, Guggenheim Berlin, Guggenheim New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, Getty Los Angeles, California, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York marks him as a major contemporary artist.

His art deals largely with the central themes of human consciousness and experience - birth, death, love, emotion and a kind of humanist spirituality. Throughout his career he has drawn meaning and inspiration from his deep interest in mystical traditions, especially Zen Buddhism, Christian mysticism and Islamic Sufism, often evident in the transcendental quality of some of his works. Equally, the subject matter and manner of western medieval and renaissance devotional art have informed his aesthetic.

An ongoing theme that he constantly explores is dualism, the idea that you can't understand what you're looking at unless you know its opposite. For example, a lot of his work has themes such as life and death, light and dark, stressed and calm, loud and quiet, etc.

His work can be divided into three types, conceptual, visual, and a unique combination of the two. According to art critic James Gardner of the National Review, Viola's conceptual work is forgettable just like most video art. On the other hand, Gardner feels that Viola's visual work such as "The Veiling", and his combination of both the conceptual and visual such as "The Crossing" are impressive and memorable.

Viola's work often exhibits a painterly quality, his use of ultra-slow motion video encouraging the viewer to sink into to the image and connect deeply to the meanings contained within it. This quality makes his work perhaps unusually accessible within a contemporary art context. As a consequence, his work often receives mixed reviews from critics, some of whom have noted a tendency toward grandiosity and obviousness in some of his work. Yet it is this very ambitiousness, his striving toward meaning, and attempts to deal with the big themes of human life, that also make his work so clearly appreciated by other critics, his audiences and collectors.

His early work established his fascination with issues that continue to inform his work today. In particular, Viola's obsession with capturing the essence of emotion through recording of its extreme display began at least as early as his 1976 work, ''The Space Between the Teeth'', a video of himself screaming, and continues to this day with such works as the 45-second ''Silent Mountain'' (2001), which shows two actors in states of anguish.

If Viola's depictions of emotional states with no objective correlative -- emotional states for which the viewer has no external object or event to understand them by—are one feature of many of his works, another, which has come to the forefront, is his reference to medieval and classical depictions of emotion. Most immediately, his subdued ''Catherine's Room'' 2001, has many scene by scene parallels with Andrea di Bartolo's 1393 ''St. Catherine of Siena Praying''.

Viola's work has received critical accolades. Marjorie Perloff, best known for her poetry criticism and her promotion of avant-garde writers and styles, singles him out for praise. Perloff, who has written at length about the necessity of poetic works responding to and taking advantage of contemporary computer technologies, has written of Viola as an example of how new technology—in his case, the video camera—can create entirely new aesthetic criteria and possibilities that did not exist in previous incarnations of the genre -- in this case, theater.

Video Art Projects

While many video artists have been quick to adopt new technologies to their medium, Viola relies little on computer editing. Perhaps the most technically challenging part of his work—and that which has benefited most from the advances since his earliest pieces—is his use of extreme slow motion.

The Quintet Series

''The Quintet Series'' 2000 is one such piece (actually a set of four separate videos), that shows the unfolding expressions of five actors in such slow motion that every minute detail of their changing expressions can be detected. The series is a challenging one for the viewer, because the concentration required to follow the facial expressions over time must last for minutes or more. In general, the distortion of time, along with the lack of sound or voice over, form the most immediately ""new"" aspects of Viola's work for the first-time viewer.

In 2000, Bill Viola collaborated with the popular band Nine Inch Nails, and its lead singer Trent Reznor to create a video suite for the band's tour. The triptych mainly is focused on water imagery and was supposed to be integral with the songs that were played.

An Ocean Without a Shore

In 2007, Viola was invited back to the 52nd Venice Biennale to present an installation called "Ocean without a Shore," which was seen by over 60,000 viewers throughout its duration. In this piece, exposed in the little but perfectly fitted Church of San Gallo, Viola is exploring life and death. The experiment consists of people standing in the foreground with nothing but black behind them. Each of them seem to produce gallons of water from themselves as if they were waterfalls. The water comes gushing out of their bodies as if they are being reborn. The very last individual is an elderly man who actually glows a supernatural green while dozens of gallons of water erupts from his body. There are 2 individuals in the middle of the piece who only seem to trickle water, while all the others produce a waterfall of water (Sal 2008). Viola says that this piece is about how the dead are undead. That once they get through the water they are conscious again.

Observance

''Observance'' 2002, is a work which may be taken partly as a response to the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks. ''Observance'' places the camera at eye level facing the head of a line of people of a wide variety of ages. As ''Observance'' unfolds, the line slowly advances, with each person pausing at the front of the line in a state of intense—though quiet—grief, before ceding their place to the next person in line.

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 trademark 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). Viola trademarks such as fire and water are much in evidence here. 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 November 2005. 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 College, 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.

The Night Journey

In 2005, he began working with the USC EA Game Innovation Lab on the art game, ''The Night Journey'', a project based on the universal story of an individual's mystic journey toward enlightenment. The game was presented to the public in April 2010.

Bodies of Light

In October 2009, Viola’s solo exhibition entitled "Bodies of Light” appeared at the James Cohan Gallery in New York. Featured in the exhibition was Pneuma (1994), a projection of alternating images evoking the concept of fleeting memories. Also on view were several pieces from the Viola’s ongoing "Transfiguration" series, which he evolved from his 2007 installation Ocean Without a Shore.

Bill Viola Studio

Bill Viola Studio is run by his wife, Kira Perov, who is the executive director. She has worked with Viola since 1978 managing and assisting Viola with his videotapes and installations. She documents their work in progress on location. All of the production done at the studio is edited by Perov.

News

Bill Viola was awarded the XXIst Catalonia International Prize on May 11, 2009. The [Premi Internacional Catalunya was created by the autonomous government of Catalonia, the Generalitat de Catalunya, to be awarded to those who make notable contributions to the advancement of human, cultural, and scientific values.

Viola's Three Structures

Viola felt as if there are 3 different structures to describe patterns of data structures. There is the branching structure, matrix structure, and schizo structure.

"The most common structure is called branching. In this structure, the viewer proceeds from the top to bottom in time." The branching structure of presenting data is the typical narrative and linear structure. The viewer proceeds from a set point A to point B by taking an exact path, the same path any other reader would take. An example of this is Google because users go into this website with a certain mindset of what they want to search for, and they get a certain result as they branch off and end at another website.

The second structure is the Matrix structure. This structure describes media when it follows nonlinear progression through information. The viewer could enter at any point, move in any direction, at any speed, pop in and out at any place. Like the branching structure, this also has its set perimeters. However, the exact path that is followed is up to the user. The user has the option of participating in decision-making that affect the viewing experience of the media. An example of this is Public Secrets , a website that reveals secrets of the justice and the incarceration system within the US for women. There is a set boundary of what users can and can't do while presenting them with different themes and subjects users are able to view. Different users will find themselves taking different paths, using flash cues to guide themselves through the website. This vast selection of paths presents many users with a unique viewing experience (in relation to that of the previous persons). As well, they have the choice to read the excerpts from these women or hear it out loud. This connects to Borges' "The Garden of Forking Paths" where the participant has a variety of choices on how they see a story unfold before them. Each time, they can create a different path.

The last structure is called the schizo, or the spaghetti model. This form of data structure pertains to pure or mostly randomness. "Everything is irrelevant and significant at the same time. Viewers may become lost in this structure and never find their way out."

Solo exhibitions

1973 "New Video Work," Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York

1974 "Bill Viola: Video and Sound Installations," The Kitchen Center, New York

1979 "Projects: Bill Viola," The Museum of Modern Art, New York

1983 "Bill Viola," ARC, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France

1985 "Summer 1985," Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles

1985 "Bill Viola," Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden

1987 "Bill Viola: Installations and Videotapes," The Museum of Modern Art, New York

1988 "Bill Viola: Survey of a Decade," Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas

1989 "Bill Viola," Fukui Prefectural Museum of Art, Fukui City, Japan, part of The 3rd Fukui International Video Biennale.

1990 "Bill Viola: The Sleep of Reason," Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain, Jouy-en-Josas, France

1991 "Bill Viola: The Passing," South London Gallery, London, England

1992 "Bill Viola: Nantes Triptych," Chappelle de l'Oratoire, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nantes, France

1992 "Bill Viola," Donald Young Gallery, Seattle, Washington (five installations)

1992 "Bill Viola: Two Installations," Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London, England

1992 "Bill Viola. Unseen Images," Stadtische Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany. Travels to: Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden (1993); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain (1993); Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland (1993); Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, England (1993), Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel (1994)

1994 "Bill Viola: Stations," American Center inaugural opening, Paris, France

1994 "Bill Viola: Território do Invisível/Site of the Unseen," Centro Cultural/Banco do Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

1995 "Buried Secrets," United States Pavilion, 46th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy. Travels to Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany (1995); Arizona State University Art Museum (1996)

1996 "Bill Viola: New Work," Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia (installation)

1996 "Bill Viola: The Messenger," Durham Cathedral, Visual Arts UK 1996, Durham, England. Travels to South London Gallery, London, England (1996); Video Positiva-Moviola, Liverpool, England; The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland; Oriel Mostyn, Gwynedd, Wales; The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland (1997); La Chapelle Saint Louis de la Salpetriere, Paris

1997 “Bill Viola: Fire, Water, Breath,” Guggenheim Museum (SoHo), New York

1997 “Bill Viola: A 25-Year Survey” organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art (catalogue). Travels to Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1998); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1998) (catalogue); Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany (1999); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California (1999); Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois (1999–2000)

2000 “The World of Appearances,” Helaba Main Tower, Frankfurt, Germany (permanent installation)

2000 “Bill Viola: New Work,” James Cohan Gallery, New York

2000 “Bill Viola: Stations,” Museum für Neue Kunst|ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany

2001 “Bill Viola: Five Angels for the Millennium,” Anthony d'Offay Gallery, London

2002 "Bill Viola: Going Forth By Day," Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin

2003 "Bill Viola: The Passions," Getty Museum, Los Angeles

2003 "Bill Viola," Kukje Gallery, Seoul

2003 "Bill Viola: Five Angels for the Millennium," Ruhrtriennale, Gasometer, Oberhausen, Germany

2003 "Bill Viola: The Passions," National Gallery, London

2004 "Bill Viola: Temporality and Transcendence," Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spain

2005 "Bill Viola: The Passions," Fundación "la Caixa," Madrid, Spain

2005 "Bill Viola Visions," ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, Denmark

2005 "Bill Viola," James Cohan Gallery, New York, USA

2005 "Tristan und Isolde," fully staged opera premiere at the Opéra National de Paris, France

2006 "Bill Viola – Video", 2006 Recipient of the NORD/LB Art Prize, Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen, Germany

2006 "LOVE/DEATH The Tristan Project," Haunch of Venison (two venues), London, UK

2007 "Bill Viola: Hatsu-Yume (First Dream)", Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Hyōgo Prefectural Art Museum, Kobe, Japan, including the 56-minute title piece and many works from the artist's private collection.

2007 "Bill Viola: Four hands (2001), kilkenny Arts Festival, Ireland.

2008 "Bill Viola: Hatsu-Yume (First Dream)",[CACMalaga],Spain until 30 April

2008-9 "Bill Viola: Ocean without a shore", National Gallery of Victoria, Australia

2009 "Bill Viola: Intimate work", Museum De Pont, Tilburg, Netherlands

2010-11 "Bill Viola: The Raft", Australian Centre of the Moving Image (ACMI) and Kaldor Public Art Projects, Australia

Awards

1984 Polaroid Video Art Award for outstanding achievement, USA

1987 Maya Deren Award, American Film Institute, USA

1989 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award, USA

1993 Skowhegan Medal (Video Installation), USA

1993 Medienkunstpreis, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, and Siemens Kulturprogramm, Germany

2003 Cultural Leadership Award, American Federal of Arts, USA

2006 NORD/LB Art Prize, Bremen, Germany

2009 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts, MIT, Cambridge, MA He was awarded $75,000 and was able to go to MIT and help enhance the creative groups there. 2009 Catalonia International Prize, Barcelona, Spain 2010 Honorary doctorate from the University of Liège, Belgium

See also

List of video artists

References

External links

Bill Viola's Official Website

Interview with Bill Viola

San Fancisco Museum of Modern Art - comprehensive feature on Bill Viola - 25 year survey exhibition 1999

Tate Modern - Bill Viola talks about his work June 2006

Bill Viola at Mediateca Media Art Space

James Cohan Gallery Works, biography, video clips, articles and reviews.

Bill Viola's "Space Between the Teeth" on WGBH's New Television Workshop.

Bill Viola's "Reverse Television" on WGBH's New Television Workshop.

Bill Viola's Profile on the Getty site

The Passions, Getty

The Passions, National Gallery, London

Guardian review of LOVE/DEATH Tristan Und Isolde

Bill Viola talks to The Independent about The Passions

Viola's exhibition at the Centre of Contemporary Art Malaga

Bill Viola-Interview With The US Video Artist, Designboom

"Flow and Presence in Bill Viola's ‘The Passing’"

"Will There Be Condominiums in Data Space?" by Bill Viola

"22nd Premi Internacional Catalunya 2010"

Bill Viola on Facebook

Bill Viola biography on Media Art Net

ZKM

Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:Video artists Category:American contemporary artists Category:MacArthur Fellows Category:American installation artists

ar:بيل فيولا ca:Bill Viola de:Bill Viola es:Bill Viola fr:Bill Viola it:Bill Viola nl:Bill Viola ja:ビル・ヴィオラ pl:Bill Viola pt:Bill Viola ru:Виола, Билл sv:Bill Viola uk:Біл Вайола

Name	Billy Bragg
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Stephen William Bragg
Born	December 20, 1957Barking, London, England
Instrument	Vocals, guitar
Genre	Folk punkFolk rockAlternative rock
Years active	1977–present
Associated acts	The BlokesRiff-RaffWilco
Website	billybragg.co.uk
Notable instruments	}}

Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957), better known as Billy Bragg, is an English alternative rock musician and left wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, and his lyrics mostly deal with political or romantic themes. His music career has lasted more than 30 years.

Early life

Bragg was born in 1957 in Barking, Essex, the son of Dennis Frederick Austin Bragg, an assistant sales manager to a Barking cap and hat maker, and his wife, Marie Victoria D'Urso. Bragg was educated at Barking Abbey Secondary School in Barking.

Career

In 1977, Bragg formed the punk rock/pub rock band Riff Raff, and toured London's pubs and clubs. The band released a series of singles, which did not receive wide exposure. He also worked in Guy Norris Records in Barking. Bragg became disillusioned with his music career, and in May 1981 joined the British Army as a recruit destined for the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars of the Royal Armoured Corps. After three months, he bought his way out of the army for £175 and returned home, having attended basic training but having never served in a regiment as a soldier.

Bragg began performing frequent concerts and busking around London, playing solo with an electric guitar. His roadie at the time was Andy Kershaw, who became a BBC DJ (Bragg and Kershaw later, in 1989, appeared in an episode of the BBC TV programme, "Great Journeys", in which they travelled the Silver Road from Potosí, Bolivia, to the Pacific coast at Arica, Chile).

Bragg's demo tape initially got no response from the record industry, but by pretending to be a television repair man, he got into the office of Charisma Records' A&R; man Peter Jenner. Jenner liked the tape, but the company was near bankruptcy and had no budget to sign new artists. Bragg got an offer to record more demos for a music publisher, so Jenner agreed to release them as a record. ''Life's a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy'' was released in July 1983 by Charisma's new imprint, Utility. Hearing DJ John Peel mention on-air that he was hungry, Bragg rushed to the BBC with a mushroom biryani, so Peel played a song from ''Life's a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy'' although at the wrong speed (since the 12" LP was, unconventionally, cut to play at 45rpm). Peel insisted he would have played the song even without the biryani and later played it at the correct speed.

Within months, Charisma had been taken over by Virgin Records and Jenner, who had been laid off, became Bragg's manager. Stiff Records' press officer Andy Macdonald – who was setting up his own record label, Go! Discs – received a copy of ''Life's a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy''. He made Virgin an offer and the album was re-released on Go! Discs in November 1983. In 1984, he released ''Brewing Up with Billy Bragg'', a mixture of political songs (e.g., "It Says Here") and songs of unrequited love (e.g., "The Saturday Boy"). The following year he released ''Between the Wars'', an EP of political songs that included a cover version of Leon Rosselson's "The World Turned Upside Down" – the EP made the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart and earned Bragg an appearance on ''Top of the Pops''. Bragg later collaborated with Rosselson on the song, "Ballad of the Spycatcher". In 1985, his song "A New England", with an additional verse, became a Top 10 hit in the UK for Kirsty MacColl. After MacColl's early death, Bragg always sang the extra verse in her honour. In 1984–1985 he toured North America.

In 1986, Bragg released ''Talking with the Taxman about Poetry'', which became his first Top 10 album. Its title is taken from a poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky and a translated version of the poem was printed on the record's inner sleeve. ''Back to Basics'' is a 1987 collection of his first three releases: ''Life's A Riot With Spy Vs. Spy'', ''Brewing Up with Billy Bragg'', and the ''Between The Wars EP''. Bragg released his fourth album, ''Workers Playtime'', in September 1988. With this album, Bragg added a backing band and accompaniment. In May 1990, Bragg released the political mini-LP, ''The Internationale''. The songs were, in part, a return to his solo guitar style, but some songs featured more complicated arrangements and included a brass band. The album paid tribute to one of Bragg's influences with the song, "I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night", which is an adapted version of Earl Robinson's song, "I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night", itself an adaptation of a poem by Alfred Hayes.

The album ''Don't Try This at Home'' was released in September 1991, and included the song, "Sexuality", which reached the UK Singles Chart. Bragg had been persuaded by Go! Discs' Andy and Juliet Macdonald to sign a four-album deal with a million pound advance, and a promise to promote the album with singles and videos. This gamble was not rewarded with extra sales, and the situation put the company in financial difficulty. In exchange for ending the contract early and repaying a large amount of the advance, Bragg regained all rights to his back catalogue. Bragg continued to promote the album with his backing band, The Red Stars, which included his Riff Raff colleague and long-time roadie, Wiggy.

Bragg released the album ''William Bloke'' in 1996 after taking time off to help raise his son. Around that time, Nora Guthrie (daughter of American folk artist Woody Guthrie) asked Bragg to set some of her father's unrecorded lyrics to music. The result was a collaboration with the band Wilco and Natalie Merchant (with whom Bragg had worked previously). They released the album ''Mermaid Avenue'' in 1998, and ''Mermaid Avenue Vol. II'' in 2000. A rift with Wilco over mixing and sequencing the album led to Bragg recruiting his own band, The Blokes, to promote the album. The Blokes included keyboardist Ian McLagan, who had been a member of Bragg's boyhood heroes The Faces. The documentary film Man in the Sand depicts the roles of Nora Guthrie, Bragg, and Wilco in the creation of the Mermaid Avenue albums.

In 2004, Bragg joined Florida ska-punk band Less Than Jake to perform a version of 'The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out' for the ''Rock Against Bush'' compilation.

At the 2005 Beautiful Days Festival in Devon, Bragg teamed up with the Levellers to perform a short set of songs by The Clash in celebration of Joe Strummer's birthday. Bragg performed guitar and lead vocals on "Police and Thieves", and performed guitar and backing vocals on "English Civil War", and "Police on my Back".

In 2007, Bragg moved closer to his English folk music roots by joining the WOMAD-inspired collective The Imagined Village, who recorded an album of updated versions of traditional English songs and dances and toured through that autumn. Bragg released his album ''Mr. Love & Justice'' in March 2008. This was the second Bragg album to be named after a book by Colin MacInnes. In 2008, during the NME Awards ceremony, Bragg sang a duet with British solo act Kate Nash. They mixed up their two greatest hits, Nash playing "Foundations", and Bragg redoing his "A New England". Bragg also collaborated with the poet and playwright, Patrick Jones, who supported Bragg's Tour.

In 2008, Bragg played a small role in Stuart Bamforth's film "''A13: Road Movie''". Bragg is featured alongside union reps, vicars, burger van chefs and Members of Parliament in a film that explored "the overlooked, the hidden and the disregarded."

He was involved in the play ''Pressure Drop'' at the Wellcome Collection in London in April and May 2010. The production, written by Mick Gorden, and billed as "part play, part gig, part installation", featured new songs by Bragg. He performed during the play with his band, and acted as compere.

Bragg curated the Leftfield stage at Glastonbury Festival 2010.

He will also be partaking in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project ''Sixty Six'' where he has written a piece based upon a chapter of the King James Bible.

Politics

Bragg has been involved with grassroots, broadly leftist, political movements, and this is often reflected in his lyrics. Bragg has recorded and performed cover versions of famous socialist anthems ''The Internationale'' and ''The Red Flag''. Bragg said in an interview: "My theory is this; I'm not a political songwriter. I'm an honest songwriter. I try and write honestly about what I see around me now." In another interview, Bragg said: "I don't mind being labelled a political songwriter. The thing that troubles me is being dismissed as a political songwriter." In an interview with ''Bullz-Eye'', Bragg said:

I would then say that I am Mr. Love and Justice, and to check out the love songs. That’s how I capture people. People do say to me, “I love your songs, but I just can’t stand your politics.” And I say, “Well, Republicans are always welcome. Come on over!” I would hate to stand at the door, saying to people, “Do you agree with these positions? If not, you can’t come in.”

Bragg expressed support for the 1984 miners' strike, and the following year he formed the musicians' alliance Red Wedge, which promoted the Labour Party and discouraged young people from voting for the Conservative Party in the 1987 general election. Following the defeat of the Labour Party and the repeated victory of Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative government, Bragg joined Charter88 to push for a reform of the British political system.

Also during the 1980s, Bragg travelled to the Soviet Union a few times, after Mikhail Gorbachev had started to promote the policies of perestroika and glasnost. During one trip, he was accompanied by MTV, and during another trip he was filmed for the 1998 mini-documentary ''Mr Bragg Goes to Moscow'', by Hannu Puttonen.

In 1999, Bragg appeared before a commission that debated possible reform of the House of Lords.

During the 2001 UK general election, Bragg attempted to combat voter apathy by promoting tactical voting in an attempt to unseat Conservative Party candidates in Dorset, particularly in South Dorset and West Dorset. The Labour Party won South Dorset with their smallest majority, and the Conservative majority in West Dorset was reduced.

Bragg has developed an interest in English national identity, apparent in his 2002 album ''England, Half-English'' and his 2006 book ''The Progressive Patriot''. The book expressed his view that English socialists can reclaim patriotism from the right wing. He draws on Victorian poet Rudyard Kipling for an inclusive sense of Englishness. Bragg has participated in a series of debates with members of the Socialist Workers Party who disagree with his argument. Bragg also supports Scottish independence.

Bragg has been an outspoken opponent of fascism, racism, bigotry, sexism and homophobia, and is a supporter of a multi-racial Britain. As a result, Bragg has come under attack from far right groups such as the British National Party. In a 2004 ''The Guardian'' article, Bragg was quoted as saying:

The British National Party would probably make it into a parliament elected by proportional representation, too. It would shine a torch into the dirty little corner where the BNP defecate on our democracy, and that would be much more powerful than duffing them up in the street – which I'm also in favour of.

Also in 2004, Bragg collaborated with American ska punk band Less Than Jake to record a song for the ''Rock Against Bush'' compilation album.

During the 2005 general election campaign in the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, Bragg supported Oona King, a pro-Iraq war Labour candidate, over George Galloway, an anti-war Respect Party candidate, due to a belief that splitting the left-wing vote would allow the Conservatives to win the seat. Galloway overturned King's 10,000-strong majority to become his party's only MP.

In March 2006, journalist Garry Bushell (a former Trotskyist who ran as a candidate for the English Democrats in 2005) accused Bragg of "pontificating on a South London council estate when we all know he lives in a lovely big house in West Dorset".

In January 2010, Bragg announced that he would withhold his income tax as a protest against the Royal Bank of Scotland's plan to pay bonuses of approximately of £1.5 billion to staff in its investment banking business. Bragg set up a Facebook group, made appearances on radio and television news programmes, and made speech at Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park. Bragg said,“Millions are already facing stark choices: are they willing to work longer hours for less money, or would they rather be unemployed? I don’t see why the bankers at RBS shouldn’t be asked the same.”

On the eve of the 2010 general election, Bragg announced that he would be voting for the Liberal Democrats because "they've got the best manifesto". He also backed the Lib Dems for tactical voting reasons. Bragg later expressed disappointment with the party, stating that 'the Lib Dems had failed democracy'.

Bragg was also very active in his hometown of Barking as part of Searchlight's Hope not Hate campaign, where the BNP's leader Nick Griffin was standing for election. At one point during the campaign Bragg squared up to BNP London Assembly Member Richard Barnbrook, calling him a "Fascist Racist" and saying "when you're gone from this borough, we will rebuild this community". The BNP came third on election day.

Bragg is a board director and key spokesman for the Featured Artists Coalition, a body representing the rights of recording artists. Bragg founded the organisation Jail Guitar Doors, which supplies instruments to prisoners to encourage them to address problems in a non-confrontational way.

Bragg is a regular at the Tolpuddle Martyrs' Festival, an annual event celebrating the memory of those transported to Australia for founding a union in the 1830s.

In January 2011, news sources reported that 20 to 30 residents of Bragg's Dorset hometown, Burton Bradstock, had received anonymous letters viciously attacking Bragg and his politics, and urging residents to oppose him in the village. Bragg claimed that a BNP supporter was behind the letters, which argued that Bragg is a hypocrite for advocating socialism while living a wealthy lifestyle, and referred to him as anti-British and pro-immigration.

In July 2011 Billy joined the growing protests over the News of the World phone hacking affair with the recording of "Never Buy the Sun" which references many of the scandals key points including the Milly Dowler case, police bribes and associated political fallout. It also draws on the 22 year Liverpool boycott of ''The Sun'' for their coverage of the Hillsborough Disaster.

Discography

''Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy'' (1983)

''Brewing Up with Billy Bragg'' (1984)

''Talking with the Taxman about Poetry'' (1986)

''Back to Basics'' (1987)

''Workers Playtime'' (1988)

''The Internationale'' (1990)

''Don't Try This at Home'' (1991)

''William Bloke'' (1996)

''Bloke on Bloke'' (1997)

''Mermaid Avenue'' (1998) (with Wilco)

''Mermaid Avenue Vol. II'' (2000) (with Wilco)

''England, Half-English'' (2002) (with the Blokes)

''Mr. Love & Justice'' (2008)

Further reading

Billy Bragg, ''The Progressive Patriot: A Search for Belonging'' (London: Bantam Press, 2006) ISBN 978-0-593-05343-0

Billy Bragg, ''How we all lost when Thatcher won'': (guardian.co.uk, 5 March 2009)

See also

Red Wedge

Charter88

George Gimarc

References

External links

Braggtopia

Billy Bragg collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive

Billy Bragg's Big Busk At Lincoln Center, 27 July 2011

Category:1957 births Category:Alternative rock musicians Category:Anti-corporate activists Category:Anti-fascists Category:British socialists Category:English activists Category:English buskers Category:English-language singers Category:English male singers Category:English political writers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English socialists Category:English tax resisters Category:Living people Category:People associated with Oxford Brookes University Category:People from Barking Category:Folk punk musicians Category:Live Music Archive artists

ca:Billy Bragg de:Billy Bragg es:Billy Bragg fr:Billy Bragg it:Billy Bragg nl:Billy Bragg pt:Billy Bragg ru:Брэгг, Билли simple:Billy Bragg fi:Billy Bragg sv:Billy Bragg