Eclipse

Pioneer in video art, Tony Oursler exhibits his ingenious devices—part sculpture, installation and performance—around the world. Eclipse, an installation originally created for the Fondation Cartier, the trees are used to create images with video projection. He writes: “The enchanted forests are a refuge for our imagination.” Inspired by the transformation of Daphne into a tree, the Tree of Life from the Norse cosmogony, or a small metaphorical drawing of a tree by Charles Darwin representing his evolutionary theory, and the new DNA technology CRISPR-Cas9, he creates a dynamic sound and light installation where trees become the centre of conflicting world views and come to life with projections inviting the viewer to reconsider technology and nature.

Eclipse was conceived and produced specially for the garden of the Fondation Cartier. More than three hours of materials are compressed to form a densely layered experience for the visitor. Thematically concerned with the environment and its relationship to technology and magical thinking, this work invites the participants to contemplate their position within the biosphere. As they move through the area surrounding the building, they will find it is populated with art in the form of talking lights, and a cast of shifting digital projections which include a disaster-zone reporter, new ager, psychologist, medieval wild-woman, the Green Man and an unstable businessman.