Jenna+Helfman+Artist+Paper

Tony Oursler Paper by Jenna Helfman

Tony Oursler was born in 1957 in New York City. He is a world renowned multimedia and installation artist. Tony Oursler’s artwork is wonderfully weird. From what I have seen, it seems to serve multiple functions. His art conveys a full range of mediums like video, sculpture, installation, performance and painting, just to name a few. Oursler is known for his use of projection onto other objects. Being able to project onto different materials and spaces opens up a whole new language and opportunity to develop and fuse two things, which generally are juxtaposed, and almost create another realm. His spooky characters live in some sort of limbo or in between. The voices of the floating heads are somewhat tortured, like they are struggling. His exhibitions are engaging, and allow the viewer to become a part of the work.

I have chosen to focus on a recent piece called “Peak.” This installation of new works by Tony Oursler was on view from October-December 2010. Peak follows Oursler’s normal talking head method, but on a much smaller scale. He experiments with the ways in which technology affects the human psyche. Humanity’s obsession with technology is growing, and Oursler plays with this idea by projecting microcosmic scenes that convey the varied nature of these human-technology relationships, such as obsession and isolation. His projections combine glass, clay, steel and other raw materials with a synthesis of performance language and video editing.

Life-size poles that resemble a modern coat rack hold up Oursler’s mini projectors and small scenes. Each individual display in the exhibition represents a world of thought. The mini projections demonstrate to the viewer a physical embodiment of a thought. Oursler uses the projector as an element of the piece to literally and figuratively show the relationship between humans and technology. Watching thoughts happening can be a bizarre experience. I have only gotten to experience these installations through Youtube, but can only imagine how fantastic this would be to see live in the gallery. His work is creepy, but it has an eminent sense of intimacy. The ways in which Oursler anthropomorphizes all his subjects really brings them to life in an incredible manner. Tony Oursler successfully makes large and impactful works on a small format.

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Work Cited: http://www.lehmannmaupin.com/#/artists/tony-oursler/ http://www.lissongallery.com/#/artists/tony-oursler/