Tony Oursler /

This hefty and beautifully printed volume uses a variety of approaches to examine contemporary artist Tony Oursler's work. There are traditional analytic essays exploring the evolution of themes over nearly a quarter century, Q&As with fellow artists, texts excerpted from video pieces as well as independent writing by the artist (including a fascinating time line on "mimetic technologies"), and, finally, hundreds of illustrations. Oursler is best known for "talking head" videos that sprang to prominence in the 1990s, which most often seem to convey archetypal anxieties of the modern world. The themes revealed here and in his continuing photographic series are both more personal to Oursler and broader in intellectual range, dealing with aesthetic problems and societal issues as well. Giving an important artist his due, this book will continue to be of value even as Oursler's career evolves. It belongs in all serious academic and public library art collections; other books in this informal series should likewise be considered. Eric Bryant, "Library Journal" (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.