Tony Oursler
SIX OF COINS, From the series "Contemporary Magic: A Tarot Deck Art Project" Limited Edition 5th Anniversary Print Collection, 2015
The Six of Coins references how we rationalize, harmonize, relate to, interact with, and exchange …
A pioneer of new-media art since the mid-1970s, Tony Oursler is best known for his video projections and installation works that explore technology's effects on the human mind. Honing in on much of humanity's compulsive relationship with computers and virtual networks, Oursler orchestrates microcosmic scenes, tableaus, and interventions that convey the obsession, escapism, isolation, and sexual fetish that cause or grow out of technological dependence. His works include talking streetlights, an eight-foot-long five-dollar bill with an eerily animated Abe Lincoln, an enormous cell phone spewing disjointed snippets of conversations, and ghoulish heads muttering phrases like “You treat me like garbage. I told you I love you but I don’t. Thanks for nothing.” Oursler invites viewers into disorienting psychological mini-dramas, at once engaging in their humor and disturbing for their uncanny juxtapositions and keen, biting commentaries.
The Six of Coins references how we rationalize, harmonize, relate to, interact with, and exchange various forms of currencies. Oursler’s exploration of video and technological mediums as a device of communication and reflection of cognitive processes manifest as multi-media sculptures and projections that embody a …
A pioneer of new-media art since the mid-1970s, Tony Oursler is best known for his video projections and installation works that explore technology's effects on the human mind. Honing in on much of humanity's compulsive relationship with computers and virtual networks, Oursler orchestrates microcosmic scenes, tableaus, and interventions that convey the obsession, escapism, isolation, and sexual fetish that cause or grow out of technological dependence. His works include talking streetlights, an eight-foot-long five-dollar bill with an eerily animated Abe Lincoln, an enormous cell phone spewing disjointed snippets of conversations, and ghoulish heads muttering phrases like “You treat me like garbage. I told you I love you but I don’t. Thanks for nothing.” Oursler invites viewers into disorienting psychological mini-dramas, at once engaging in their humor and disturbing for their uncanny juxtapositions and keen, biting commentaries.
