Tony
Oursler combines found objects with video projections to create psychologically
discomforting tableaux. Hideaway
typifies these hybrid and theatrical works. It was created with the performance
artist Tracy Leipold, one of Oursler’s chief collaborators and muses. Speaking from under the overturned chair, the
fallen figure commands our attention while expressing the wish to escape
notice. Leipold brings an extraordinary range of emotion into the deceptively
simple and carefully scripted monologue; she alternately confronts and cajoles
the viewer, uttering: “I’m getting smaller (and smaller). . . . Forget this
face. Turn away and forget this face. . . . I’m gone. Bye-bye.”