It makes sense, at this most critical moment, to take a serious look at the art of the 1980s, its political fury and layered poetics, as an anchor in the storm.
Tony Oursler
Posted inArt
Fault Line
The first paragraph of Lev Manovich’s groundbreaking essay, “Database as Symbolic Form” (1999) came to mind about three minutes after I began pouring over the weird, wacky, wild and wooly stuff displayed under glass in Tony Oursler: The Imponderable Archive at the Hessel Museum of Art.
Posted inArt
The Folly of Performance
Performance art doesn’t have to be so heavy. It can be light, like diving head-first into the trash, in Tamar Ettun’s case.
Posted inOpinion
In the Orbit of Planet Hillary
There are so many things to say about the New York Times Magazine cover for this coming weekend, which features Hillary Clinton’s face stretched and wrinkled and turned into a planet.
Posted inArt
Putting Video to David Bowie’s Music: A Conversation With Artist Tony Oursler
We all have that friend we love to invite to our birthdays because he always come with an shocking present, a giant Scalextric, a human skull, or a disturbingly realistic dildo. For David Bowie, that friend is artist Tony Oursler.
Posted inOpinion
Video Artist Tony Oursler Turns David Bowie into a Doll
“Where Are We Now” is the first single from “The Next Day,” David Bowie’s first studio album in 10 years, and the surreal pop star is breaking the silence with something memorable — a music video created by Tony Oursler, a British video and installation artist known for projecting body parts onto suspended spheres. It’s a match made in spacey art heaven.
Posted inArt
Pittsburgh: The Great Deceiver (Part Two)
The next morning I took the T (aka, the trolley) into the city, and walked across the bridge to The Warhol. I love The Warhol. (Hate the NO PHOTOS policy though.) It never lets me down. Feels a bit like Mecca to me. Even when I know what’s on, I always come across surprises. The first one greeted me in the 1st floor museum intro room. For the first time, I saw the “Album of a Mat Queen” (1962), Warhol’s silkscreen of the writer and painter Rosalyn Drexler from her days as a professional wrestler. (SORRY. NO PHOTOS.) A huge fan of Drexler, I had only read about this image. This is standard operating procedure at The Warhol. Surprises from their deep collection around every corner. (SORRY. NO PHOTOS.)
