Magazine 2/2010 - Emma

Tony OurslerMercurytext Leena KuumolaPhoto Ari Kartttunendark, star-speckled sky, two soft sculpturalshapes. Reflections and endlessAmovement as two voices talk. These are theelements in Tony Oursler’s video installationMercury. Tony Oursler (born New York 1957) isan American artist known throughout the worldfor his enigmatic works. He’s into performance,video, painting and sculpture as the call takeshim. He’s curious about people in odd situationsand different mutations.Oursler’s video installations are spatial happeningsin which sound and image combinewith physical form to create integral experiences.In his works the often nature-inspiredsurrealist elements create imaginary and multifacetednarratives. His moving image cannotbe seen on the angular screen of the monitorsbut on the surface of the changing objects inwhich its ever-changing nature emphasisesalienation.The Mercury on show at EMMA consists ofseveral different layers. The dark spacescapewith all its stars in the dimly lit room is full of10mystery. The shadows cast on the walls are oftwo soft, spherical shapes outlined by a shininglight with a profusion of stars in between.Some of them are moving slowly and deliberatelytowards the viewer. The surface of thesesculptural bodies glitters and continuouslychanges in the reflection of the moving image.A flood of chatter gushes from the women’stalking mouths. Slowly opening and shuttingeyes can be clearly seen in the shining formaround one of them. Occasionally, the otherone metamorphoses, turns slowly up-sidedown,becoming momentarily discernible. Themoving image assumes round shapes, thuscreating optical illusions and impressions. Justlike the images reflected on the moving surfaceof water become but pale shadows of reality.The shapes stretch and contract, fracture andreform in this continuous organic movementevery so often reverting into a recognisableshape. The chatter from the mouths is far froma dialogue as each is completely withdrawninto its own world.This world is characterised by a passionateconcentration, a stream of consciousness thatoccasionally drops to a mere whisper. Wordsfollow each other, are sometimes repeated andchange into a confusing emotional expression.The occasional eerie laugh brings recollectionsof shattering mental delusions. An intensivehumming sound of varying density echoes inthe space above. In his works Oursler playswith powerful opposites. The lyrical and tranquilnature of the background is continuouslybeing fractured by perpetual movement, ramblingimages and chaotic sound. Its enigmatictranquility only emphasises the comminutionof the intensity of continuous change. At thesame time as we feel we are in an enclosedspace so the work strongly suggests the infinitybeyond everyday reality.