surprise,” and “Romantic love was invented to manipulate women.”
The statements, which people could read from a distance, were in-
tentionally vague and, in some cases, contradictory.
TONY OURSLERWhile many artists present video and digital
imagery to the audience on familiar flat screens, thus reproducing
the format in which we most often come into contact with such im-
ages,Tony Oursler(b. 1957) manipulates his images, projecting
them onto sculptural objects. This has the effect of taking such im-
ages out of the digital world and insinuating them into the “real”
world. Accompanied by sound tapes, Oursler’s installations, such as
Mansheshe (FIG. 36-86), not only engage but often challenge the
viewer. In this example, Oursler projected talking heads onto egg-
shaped forms suspended from poles. Because the projected images
of people look directly at the viewer, the statements they make about
religious beliefs, sexual identity, and interpersonal relationships can-
not be easily dismissed.
MATTHEW BARNEYOne of the major trends in the art world
of the opening decade of the 21st century is the relaxation of the tradi-
tional boundaries between and among artistic media. In fact, many
artists today are creating vast and complex multimedia installations
combining new and traditional media. One of these artists is
Matthew Barney(b. 1967). The 2003 installation (FIG. 36-1) of his
epic Cremaster cycle (1994–2002) at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Mu-
seum in New York typifies the expansive scale of many contemporary
works. A multimedia extravaganza involving drawings, photographs,
sculptures, videos, films, and performances (presented in videos), the
Cremaster cycle is a lengthy narrative that takes place in a self-enclosed
universe Barney created. The title of the work refers to the cremaster
muscle, which controls testicular contractions in response to external
stimuli. Barney uses the development of this muscle in the embryonic
process of sexual differentiation as the conceptual springboard for the
entire Cremaster project, in which he explores the notion of creation in
expansive and complicated ways. The cycle’s narrative, revealed in the
five 35-mm feature-length films and the artworks, makes reference to,
among other things, a musical revue in Boise, Idaho (Barney’s home-
town), the life cycle of bees, the execution of convicted murderer Gary
Gilmore, the construction of the Chrysler Building (FIG. 35-76), Celtic
mythology, Masonic rituals, a motorcycle race, and a lyric opera set in
late-19th-century Budapest. In the installation, Barney tied the art-
works together conceptually by a five-channel video piece that is pro-
jected on screens hanging in the Guggenheim’s rotunda. Immersion in
Barney’s constructed world is disorienting and overwhelming and has
a force that competes with the immense scale and often frenzied pace
of contemporary life.
No one knows what the next years and decades will bring, but
given the expansive scope of postmodernism, it is likely that no
single approach to or style of art will dominate. But new technolo-
gies will certainly continue to redefine what constitutes a “work of
art.” The universally expanding presence of computers, digital tech-
nology, and the Internet may well erode what few conceptual and ge-
ographical boundaries remain and make art and information about
art available to virtually everyone, thereby creating a truly global
artistic community.1024 Chapter 36 EUROPE AND AMERICA AFTER 194536-86
Tony Oursler,
Mansheshe,1997.
Ceramic, glass, video
player, videocassette,
CPJ-200 video
projector, sound,
11 7 8 each.
Private collection.
Video artist Oursler
projects his digital
images onto sculp-
tural objects, insin-
uating them into the
“real” world. Here,
he projected talking
heads onto egg-
shaped forms
suspended from
poles.
1 in.