“It was a very smooth collaboration. His fantasy took place inside my work.” Artist Tony Oursler talks about his David Bowie music video ‘Where Are We Now’ which was published on Bowie’s 66th birthday.
‘Where Are We Now’ quickly went to number one in the iTunes charts in 17 countries and has been viewed more than 3,5 million times on YouTube alone. The video was shot at Oursler’s studio in Manhatten, and is full of references to Bowie’s past.
“Moving forwards over decades, certain things are lost, but certain things are retained.” This is the basic idea of the video, as Oursler explains it. He adds how their “anti-rock video” was based on David Bowies ideas, and was shot within a strict deadline.
At the core of the video is a conjoined rag doll with two faces projected onto it: a “mystery woman” and David Bowie’s. The joint figure was a by-product from Bowie’s 50th birthday celebrations at Madison Square Gardens in 1997, which Oursler also directed. The mystery woman is Ourslers wife, artist Jacqueline Humphries.
New York based artist Tony Oursler (b.1957) works with video, sculpture, installation, performance and painting. Oursler’s work has been exhibited in numerous prestigious institutions including MoMa, New York, the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, and Tate Liverpool.
Interview: Jesper Bundgaard
Camera and editing: Per Henriksen
Produced by Christian Lund
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2013.
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