Table Of ContentTONY OURSLER:
THE DARKEST COLOR INFINITELY AMPLIFIED
U1HITNEM
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Darkest Color Infinitely Amplified is a new work by Fascinated by these old dialectics ofgood and evil,
Tony Oursler that has been commissioned by the science and magic, Oursler applied them to new tech-
Whitney Museum. In this installation, Oursler makes nologies, creating a room-size optical illusion populated
use ofHigh Definition Volumetric Display, a new imag- by magicians, devils, and other makers ofspecial
ing technology that allows both three-dimensional effects. Oursler then uses video "magic" such as editing,
images and two-dimensional video projections to slow motion, and freeze-frames to dissect what we see
appear in free space, floating in midair. and show us the "tricks" behind the illusion.
The installation considers the history ofthe camera By projecting an image from one place to another,
— —
obscura not a camera in the modern sense, but literally the camera obscura as well as all the optical projection
—
a "dark room." It is an optical device whose properties devices that followed prove that what we see does
were first documented in China in the fifth century not always correspond to a physical presence around
BCE. In the camera obscura's simplest form, when a lit us, that our senses can be deceived to the point where
area and a darkened area are separated by a wall with perception is completely dissociated from reality. The
a pinhole-size opening, the image ofthe lit area is pro- anxiety this realization can provoke has been popular-
jected in inverted form onto the opposite wall ofthe ized today in science-fiction accounts ofthe dangers
darkened area. ofa truly virtual reality. But a fear ofthe virtual has
Oursler is interested in the way technology can existed for as long as we have had the power to deceive
make us feel uneasy in the world and in the fears we with effects oflight. By combining both old and new
attribute to that uneasiness. For centuries, scientists technology and iconography, The Darkest Color Infinitely
and artists used the camera obscura to investigate Amplified reminds us that our current anxiety over
vision and linear perspective, but less knowledgeable the distinction between "real" and "virtual" has a long
people thought it was the work ofmagic or devils. history.
First published illustration ofa camera obscura, showing the observation ofa solareclipse at Louvain, Belgium, 1544. Gernsheim Collection,
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University ofTexas at Austin
TONY OURSLER
AND
MAXWELL ANDERSON
L.
A CONVERSATION
Following are excerpts from a conversation between Tony
Oursler and Whitney Museum director Maxwell L. Anderson,
which took place during the course ofthe filming and
production of The Darkest Color InfinitelyAmplified.
MAXWELL L. ANDERSON: In many ofyour earlier video TO: A lot ofmy work is about contemporary relationships
sculptures, you project images onto the three-dimensional between individuals or groups and media structures, and
surface ofan inert object, such as a doll, so you've long over the past two years I've started to research their
—
tried to create video entities that exist in space rather antecedents the history ofwhat I call deep media. I fell
than inside a monitor or on a screen. Is this installation a into this by researching the development oftelevision,
fulfillment ofan earlier impulse or is it a departure? and I went into an obsessive research binge, which led
me to write an entire timeline about the history ofmedia
TONY OURSLER: It's really a continuation ofa process. from my point ofview. And it seems that the first virtual
I've always been interested in the idea ofremoving the images were created by using this simple technology
image from the "corporate lock" ofthe television box. called the camera obscura. By poking a small hole in
It's very restricting to be limited to one shape. The Darkest any dark chamber, light will enter it and create a virtual
Color InfinitelyAmplified is also an extension ofthe devel- image. It's the basis for all sorts ofmedia inventions.
opment oftechnology in general. Moving images have It's also the basis for the way the eye works, so there's an
been spilling out into real space outside ofthe domestic interesting connection between the body and the camera.
—
setting into architecture, into clothing, into art galleries. But for me, I see the roots ofthe camera obscura moving
I think that it's part ofthis drive to get the moving image through time, all the way into this High Definition
as ubiquitous as wall paint, and eventually we're going to Volumetric Display, because a lot ofthe principles and
see that happen. the display setup are very similar to the camera obscura.
You have a kind ofimaging system and a hole through
—
MLA: What does the title mean? which it's viewed or actually the three-dimensional
image comes out through the hole into space. Meta-
TO: As I was hanging around Dimensional Media phorically, it's exactly like the camera obscura.
Associates [the company that has patented High Definition
Volumetric Display], talking to some oftheir engineers, MLA: This sounds a little bit like magic. Magic today is
they mentioned that they need to block the ambient light seen as entertainment, but you are actually instilling a
in the room from entering their apparatus. They use a degree ofconcern or trepidation in viewers about what
light block that infinitely amplifies the darkest color in they are seeing, which in some way is magical. Is that
that system. I thought it was an appropriate metaphor for accurate?
—
the camera obscura and its gothic quality to take the
dark side ofconsciousness and extend it to its farthest TO: There's always been a magic quality to technology
degree in a bridge between the unconscious and reality. and to virtual images, a willing suspension ofdisbelief.
People want to be in the dark. Magic has always been
MLA: The camera obscura is a device that's existed for a formalized display ofthe perceptual limits ofthe
centuries. How did you become interested in it? human body. Today, this is the same role played by
mimetic technology, such as cinema, television, and play with the idea ofhow technology can be used to
video. Magicians were instrumental in developing trick you and reinterpret situations.
the technology that gave birth to cinema, which,
tragically, eventually eclipsed them. The cinematic MLA: You use devils, both in your recent work and
desire to conjure up otherworldly images actually in this installation at the Whitney. What takes you
goes back to the magician. Ifyou look at the history from a magician to a devil?
ofcinema, people begin with the Lumiere Brothers
or Georges Melies about a century ago, but really TO: It's an interesting connection. One ofthe
virtual play space goes back seven hundred years things I find fascinating is that the advent ofmost
at least, which tends to be ignored by historians. technologies polarizes the public. For instance, the
I found incredible examples ofit in my research. Internet is this new portal into a domestic space,
We know ofthirteenth-century plays where the and some fear that there are all sorts ofthings that
characters are outside in the sunlight but the audi- could get into your house and corrupt you and your
ence is inside a dark room, and the lens ofa camera family. But at the same time, technology is associated
obscura focuses the image ofthese characters on with human potential. You can do anything with the
—
a sheet. To the medieval audience, this was magic. Internet so ofcourse you can do all these horrible
The magician is also an interesting character things as well. The personification ofevil comes out
because he plays horrifying tricks, such as decapitat- ofthis flux between light and dark. So what better
ing a woman, but he makes it safe for the audience for a magician to conjure up but a devil? Ifit works,
in the same way that media does. I filmed two really the icon ofthe devil becomes a psychological
amazing magicians doing simple routines that will projection ofthe viewer's negative potential, a dark
—
float in the installation space deconstructed in a mirror ofsorts. Contrary to expectations, however,
way. I'm using slow motion and reverse action to the devil could be a comic character even back in
Tony Oursler, Still from The Darkest ColorInfinitelyAmplified, 2000. Video and mixed-media installation, dimensions variable.
Commissioned by the Whitney Museum ofAmerican Art, NewYork
—
the Middle Ages, and can be a very horrific character TO: They stand in for the body. They're an extension
today ifwe look at a movie such as The Exorcist. ofthe audience, ofthe desires ofthe audience. They
I worked with a special-effects makeup artist to move around in the space as potential sexuality. They
transform actress Tracy Leipold into a creature remi- also evoke a kind ofduality, on and off, like a binary
—
niscent ofthe possessed girl in The Exorcist. Tracy's structure 01100111....I've often thought about the
performance is both funny and scary. She asks the separation between the head and the body in media
viewers to consider their position in relation to evil as a kind ofdissociator, a kind offracture ofthe
and the mimetic apparatus. As I started to look back body and ofconsciousness, breaking things down
at the history ofmedia, I found that the earliest and reorganizing them in virtual space. This is some-
images ofthe camera obscura were often associated thing I'm trying to get at with these figures, because
with demons. I used these images as the basis for they won't be seen as individual figures. They'll be
the glass figures produced for this installation. From broken up onto different screens and into different
the beginning, virtual spaces were designed as a play spaces. The whole thing is organized in a mosaic
space where the viewer can work out various arche- that occasionally comes together, sort oflike pixels.
typal themes. The position ofthe viewer in the
world ofmediated space is always going to shift. MLA: It's an interesting collision. You allow the tech-
The viewer is always going to code and decode these nology to be linked to a historical antecedent, and
images that stream endlessly from the spectacle. you allow the illusion to be exploded by revealing
So this installation was a way for me to look at this some ofthe technology in the installation. It's ambi-
giant block ofhistory and see how we codify it. tious. Do you think it's going to affect the way you
What stands out is the play ofdark and light, which work in the future? Do you think that other artists
is the theme ofThe Darkest Color InfinitelyAmplified. will be galvanized by this installation and want to
explore free space projection as a new medium?
—
MLA: So there's the binary structure the opposition
oflight and dark, heaven and hell, good and evil. TO: I can only speak for myself. The installation has
What about man and woman? You have a nude man allowed me to move in a new direction, particularly
and woman in this installation. What are their roles? with image making. This piece connects virtual
images with sculpture in a way that I'd never really
thought of. It's set up so that you can project two-
dimensional video images as well as three-dimen-
sional objects, and each type retains its characteristics
even while floating in space. So for me it's a perfect
way to blend the two- and three-dimensional together.
I've always felt that there's a kind ofbattle between
those two worlds in my work or, to be more precise,
between virtual space and its impact on real space
real life. I also think that artists and people in media
are dying to work with three-dimensional images,
but I don't like viewing glasses or headsets. The
beauty ofThe Darkest Color InfinitelyAmplified is that
it looks better....
MLA: With no head gear.
TO: With no head gear, so phenomenologically it's
also really incredible. You actuallyfeel how differently
you see. Your vision is more cinematic.
MLA: You get a little dizzy ifyou spend enough time.
Tony Oursler, Still from The Darkest ColorInfinitelyAmplified, 2000 TO: Yeah, you get a little dizzy....
Selected One-Artist Exhibitions Selected Bibliography
1982 Malsch, Friedemann, ed. Tony Oursler: Spheres d'lnfluence (exhibition catalogue).
"A Scene," P.S.I ContemporaryArt Center, Dummies, Clouds, Organs, Rowers, Watercolors, Paris: Musee National d'Art Moderne,
Long Island City, New York Videotapes, Alters, Performances and Dolls Centre Georges Pompidou, 1985.
(exhibition catalogue). Frankfurt am Main:
1985 Tony Oursler (exhibition catalogue).
Portikus; Strasbourg, France: Les Musees de
"Spheres d'lnfluence," Musee National Essen, Germany: Museum Folkwang, 1989.
la Ville de Strasbourg; Geneva: Centre d'Art
d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou,
Contemporain; Eindhoven, The Netherlands: Tony Oursler (exhibition catalogue). Essays
Paris
StedelijkVan Abbe Museum, 1995. byJean-Marc Avrilla and ElizabethJanus.
1991 Bordeaux: CAPC Musee d'Art Contemporain
Oursler, Tony, and Bernhard Balkenhol,
"Poison Candy, Dummies, Designer Drugs," eds. Tony Oursler: MyDrawings 1976-1996 de Bordeaux, 1997.
Diane Brown Gallery, NewYork
(exhibition catalogue). Kassel, Germany: Tony Oursler: White Trash and Phobic
1993 Kasseler Kunstverein, 1997. (exhibition catalogue). Introduction by
"White Trash and Phobic," Centre d'Art ElizabethJanus. Geneva: Centre d'Art
Rothschild, Deborah, et al. Introjection:
Contemporain, Geneva (traveled to: Kunst- Contemporain; Berlin: Kunst-Werke Berlin,
Tony OurslerMid-Career Survey 1976-1999
Werke Berlin) 1993.
(exhibition catalogue). Williamstown,
1994 Massachusetts: Williams College Museum Tony Oursler: A Written Conversation
Lisson Gallery, London ofArt, 1999. Between Tony Oursler and Christiane
Meyer-Stoll and Tony Oursler andJim Lewis.
"Dummies, Flowers, Alters, Clouds, and Schneider, Eckhard, ed. Tony Oursler:
37 Questions (exhibition brochure).
Organs," Metro Pictures, New York Videotapes, Dummies, Drawings, San Diego: Museum ofContemporaryArt,
Photographs, Viruses, Light, Heads, Eyes, and
1996 1996.
CD-ROM (exhibition catalogue). Hannover,
Museum ofContemporaryArt, San Diego Germany: Kunstverein Hannover, 1998.
"My Drawings 1976-1996," Kasseler
Kunstverein, Kassel, Germany
1997
CAPC Musee d'Art Contemporain de
Bordeaux (traveled to: Sala de Exposiciones
Rekalde, Bilbao, Spain)
1998
"Videotapes, Dummies, Drawings,
Photographs, Viruses, Light, Heads, Eyes,
and CD-ROM," Kunstverein Hannover,
Germany (traveled to: Malmo Konsthall,
Sweden; City Gallery Wellington,
New Zealand; Tel Aviv Museum ofArt)
1999
"Introjection: Tony Oursler Mid-Career
Survey 1976-1999," Williams College
Museum ofArt, Williamstown,
Massachusetts, and Massachusetts Museum
ofContemporaryArt, North Adams
(traveled to: ContemporaryArts Museum,
Houston; The Museum ofContemporary
Art, Los Angeles; Des Moines Art Center) Tony Oursler, Details ofThe Darkest ColorInfinitelyAmplified, 2000
The artist would like to thank the following people who assisted
in the production ofthis work:
Exhibition Coordinator. Glenn Phillips
Assistantto Tony Oursler: Lilah Freedland
Performers: AstoundingVelma, Queen ofIllusion, Kelly Bucola, Dimensional MediaAssociates, Inc. (DMA) holds the patent for High
Aaron Diskin, Tracy Leipold, and Steve Rodman Bewitching Magic Definition Volumetric Display, a new imagingtechnology used in The
Special-effects makeup: Rick Crane DarkestColorInfinitelyAmplified that promises a wide range offuture
Glassfabricators:Johnathan Christie, Jane D'Arensbourg, applications, from medical and militaryuse to flight simulation. Tony
Charlie Lowrie,Justin Parker, and Timothy Ringsmuth Oursler worked together with DMA engineers to create this project.
Computeranimation: Tim Harrington
DimensionalMediaAssociates, Inc.: Wen-Kang Chang, Rollando Dizon, cover: Tony Oursler, Still from TheDarkestColorInfinitelyAmplified, 2000
Brandon Eggena, Angelo Federico, Peter Miroslaw, Daniel PfefFer,
Peter Raber, Mark Stasiak, Robert D. Summer, and FrankTrocola
Interview recording: Paul Ruest © 2000 Whitney Museum ofAmerican Art
Interviewtranscription: Leslie Shaw 945 MadisonAvenue at 75th Street
Interns: Casson Demmon, Elizabeth Fleming, Banks Griffin, and NewYork, NY 10021
Pravine Sathe www.whitney.org
