“Tony Oursler: Imponderable”

As part of a re-installation of its contemporary art galleries, MoMA is setting aside space for several room-size installations, including Oursler’s immersive, feature-length video phantasmagoria, which takes a humorously skewed look at stage magic, spirit photography, pseudoscience, telekinesis and other manifestations of the paranormal. The installation utilizes a contemporary update on Pepper’s ghost, an illusion technique in which apparitions appear to materialize in real space with the help of a large pane of glass angled between between the viewer and a hidden set reflected in the glass. As spooky as it is ironic, Imponderable represents a deep dive into the artist’s fascination with the occult.