Tony Oursler lives and works in Los Angeles, where he has been making videos for 20 yars. He also makes sculptures and installations that often include videos. ... In 1992 Oursler began to use a new liquid crystal (LCD) video projector that allowed him to project a videotape of a talking face onto the face of a figure. Many figures are in a position of being trapped. This recent accession is one of four examples of heads immersd in water. The illusion is of a submerged head, holding its breath under water, and therefore able to produce only gurgling murmurs. The head is a ceramic form that the artist designed and then had manufactured. Within this small series the Art Center's work is unique, since it carries the face and voice of the artist himself.
Souce: NEWS March April 1997
Disembodiment and entrapment are the uncomfortable themes of many of Oursler’s video-enhanced sculptures. In this work, a projected, gurgling face endures an endless struggle to hold his breath, an image both humorous and disturbing. Oursler has created other works with heads immersed in water, but Pressure Blue/Green uniquely features the face and voice of the artist himself. Despite the clearly visible video equipment and motionless ceramic head, Oursler’s use of actual human features creates the uncanny impression of communication between the sculpture and the viewer.
Exhibition History"From Body to Being: Reflections on the Human Image," Des Moines Art Center, Feb. 1 - May 4, 1997
Published ReferencesAN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. p.218, color ill. p.219
Images (4)
