Proposal for Judy
By Tony Oursler
Published in Written in conjunction with "Judy" an installation at Salzberg Kunstverein
Apr. 5, 1994
The rise of Multiple Personality Disorder, MPD, in the USA during recent years and its connection to media have informed my plans for the production of the installation for the Kunstverein in Salzburg. The installation will take the form of a number of figures which 'transform' into one another in a rough line across the gallery. The progression of interrelationships can be traversed by the viewer/participant who is also invited to sit within the group structure and interact with it by working a remote control camera. The figures/objects are sparsely constructed dummies/scarecrows and dolls, piles of dirt and pieces of furniture which represent various aspects and manifestations of MPD within a fictitious individual. A number of these figures/objects are given voice and expression by means of projecting video images upon them. Thus a composite image can be perceived by the viewer/participant, much like all the characters of a drama performing independently at the same time (while in reality one would experience only a few aspects of the illness at a time).
Tony Oursler was born in new york in 1957. He completed a BA in fine arts at the California Institute for the Arts, Valencia, California in 1979. His art covers a range of mediums working with video, sculpture, installation, performance and painting. Oursler's work has been exhibited in prestigious institutions including the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Documenta VIII, IX, Kassel, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Skulptur Projekte, Munster, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, the tate, Liverpool. The artist currently lives and works in New York City.