Tony Oursler (b. 1957, New York; lives and works in New York) is best known for his innovative integration of video, sculpture, and performance. While studying at the California Institute of Arts, Oursler was influenced by John Baldessari, who taught him, Mike Kelly, John Miller, and Jim Shaw the importance of the narrative potential of images and the associative power of language. A pioneering figure in new media since the 1970s, Oursler has since explored diverse methods of incorporating video into his practice, breaking video art out of the two-dimensional screen to create moving three-dimensional environments with the use of projections. At the center of Oursler’s practice is this persisting preoccupation with technology and it’s effect on humanity. In his immersive installations he presents a dissonance of moving image and sound that seeks to disorient and disarm viewers. His videos often take as their subject the human face, fragmenting and distorting its physiognomy, and thus the legibility of expression, by projecting it onto inanimate objects or embedding it into his sculptures. With these video-sculptures Oursler explores the role that the rapid growth of technology plays in altering, and often inhibiting, human social behavior.
湯尼·奧斯勒(1957年生於美國紐約)從上世紀70年代中期起便是非常活躍的影像藝術先鋒人物。今天,他依舊是影像藝術領域裏最具影響力、實驗性和創新性的藝術家。他在1979年從加州藝術學院獲得了藝術學士學位。作品結合各種媒介,例如影像、雕塑和行為藝術。他利用幽默、諷刺和夢幻的方式探索人類與大眾媒介科技之間的關系。在2011年,奧斯勒受邀參加第54屆威尼斯雙年展的平行展玻璃展覽。在2005年,其回顧展《Dispositifs》先後在法國巴黎的國立網球場現代美術館、西班牙薩拉曼卡的DA2當代美術館及丹麥哥本哈根的坤斯特弗裏根展廳展出。2013年2月,倫敦泰特現代美術館展出其讓觀眾身臨其境的裝置藝術作品-《The Influence Machine》。奧斯勒目前於美國紐約定居及從事藝術創作。