Nick Kaye: The dynamic nature of Oursler’s work is amplified in his installations’ illusion of performance: in the presentation of an act seemingly doubled by purpose and intention. In Underwater (Blue/Green) (1996), as for other works, this projection’s “performance” becomes the motor of the attempted migration between virtual and real spaces. Resting on the simulation of a common phobia, Underwater (Blue/Green) presents a head projected onto a fiberglass model within a tank of water. Following the logic of Oursler’s “empathy tests,” the virtual head’s projected performance attempts to gives meaning to the conditions of its display as it repeatedly acts out its potential suffocation by desperately attempting to hold its breath.

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References

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