Tony Oursler
Biography
Tony Oursler’s expressionistic reveries incorporate phantasmagoric sets and rambling stream-of-diseased-consciousness narrative that serve to illustrate the depths of a psyche becoming unhinged. Oursler’s early tapes of personal investigation and social reflection earned him a cult following among New York audiences; his more recent installation work has used projected images on sculptural forms. Oursler has collaborated with a number of other artists, including Constance DeJong, Joe Gibbons, and the band Sonic Youth.
Known For & Full Filmography4 Titles
Movie - 2016, 2h 15m • as Himself
Feature documentary on the pioneering life and work of iconoclastic filmmaker/musician/composer/artist Tony Conrad.
Movie - 1980, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
Featuring performances by artists Tony Oursler and Mike Kelley, Garage Sale II moves between a couple’s sexually dysfunctional relationship and a series of vignettes in which characters attempt to fulfil their desires through prosthetics, masturbation, manipulation and S&M.
Movie - 1993, 2h 15m • as Les Alabaster
A ramshackle underground SF satire set and shot in the self-absorbed art world of lower Manhattan, written, produced, and directed by Joe Gibbons, who also plays one of the lead parts. Gibbons plays a mad scientist who's developed a technique for transferring personalities from one person's body to another; he becomes obsessed with an outlaw artist (played by performance artist Karen Finley) who destroys paintings in various galleries as a form of anarchist, anticapitalist protest.
Movie - 2011, 2h 15m • as himself
A series of reflections on New York City by key figures of its prominent art scene. The City is considered in light of the history, influence and audience of its art scene and the relationship the artists have with the city. With the participation of Ross Bleckner, Ann Craven, Peter Halley, Donald Sultan, Ryan McGinness, Jacob Hashimoto, Tony Oursler and Eric Freeman.