Tony Oursler
Absentia
2012
Tony Oursler, Absentia, 2012.
Continuing Tony Oursler’s broader exploration of the moving image, Absentia is one of three micro-scale installations that incorporate small objects and tiny video projections within a miniature active proscenium. Mounted on platforms suspended in space on metal stands, the video sculpture contemplates human relationships, expressed here by shouts and murmurs, the strange and the familiar.
Tony Oursler has gained international renown through his controversial exhibitions that uniquely combine sculpture, video, and performance to engender both irony and pathos. The artist’s research into the history of moving images, spirit photography, psychological disorders and cases of multiple personality have provided inspiration for the scripted mutterings, screams and twitches that he and his actors record on video. Recent large installations have drawn from youth culture and wireless communication.