Tony Oursler: mAcHiNe CrYsTaL

Fotografiska Shanghai is honored to announce the grand opening of mAcHiNe CrYsTaL on May 22, 2026, a major solo exhibition by the renowned American multimedia and installation artist, Tony Oursler. The exhibition features immersive optical installations created specifically for the space. Using the crystal as a medium, Oursler bridges the gap between natural geometry, digital technology, and artificial intelligence. Within the refraction of light and shadow, the exhibition explores the boundaries of technology, nature, and perception, offering audiences a visual wonder that balances scientific precision with artistic poetry.

Born in New York in 1957, Tony Oursler has been a vital force in video art since the mid-1970s. Widely acclaimed as the "Father of Video Sculpture," he pioneered the application of projection technology onto three-dimensional media, breaking the traditional boundaries of two-dimensional screens. His work seamlessly blends video, sculpture, and performance art—often with a touch of humor, irony, and dreamlike surrealism—to probe the complex relationship between humanity and mass media technology.

At the heart of the exhibition lies a large-scale installation composed of optical crystal structures that function simultaneously as sculpture and reflective projection surfaces. These faceted forms act as refractive screens for kaleidoscopic digital imagery—figures interwoven with hand-drawn and AI-generated animations—producing a dynamic perceptual field in which images fragment, multiply, and reassemble in response to the viewer’s position. As images fragment, multiply, and reassemble, every moment of viewing becomes a unique, site-specific experience that disrupts fixed narrative frameworks.

The exhibition opens to the public on May 22, 2026. We invite enthusiasts of art, technology, and design to step into this light-filled "crystal secret realm" and experience the artistic magic where technology interweaves with nature, and where rationality meets poetry.