What Is Installation Art and How Does It Transform Our Perception?
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October 19, 2016
Bob Lansroth
In the modern world where so many different art forms have been born,
developed, explored and even forgotten over time, almost no other manifestation
of art is so impressive and instantly mesmerizing as installation art.
When you walk into a room where the majority of the space around you is
actually a part of the artwork, you yourself become part of the art. When you
see something that shouldn’t quite be there and stands out in an obvious
manner, and yet somehow fits in the surroundings in a peculiar way, you’re
probably looking at another piece of art made by installation artists.
It offers so much more than a traditional painting, sculpture or any other kind
of creativity would. It may engage you on multiple levels, activating your senses
to experience art in a new way; touch, sound, smell as well as vision are
explored to convey the artistry of installations. Often, the focus is centered on
the idea and the impact of it, rather than the quality of a finished product.
Usually, installation art is a purely temporary work of art, but its impact,
message and the notion behind it remain forever. Let us further explore this
fascinating, engaging, and bewildering art form embodied in installations that
will seduce you and make you stop to think for a second, and perhaps even
make you question the notions around it, the world and yourself.
Yayoi Kusama - Infinity Mirrored Room
Installation Art - Origins and Development
The origins and roots of installation art are often associated with Conceptual
art, tracing the steps all the way back to artists like Marcel Duchamp and his
innovative approach of presenting his ready mades; specifically the controversial
urinal piece called Fountain from 1917.
Other early influences that are considered to have paved the way for the
developing of installation art as such, include the avant-garde Dada exhibitions,
various works and assemblage art which notably filled entire rooms, theories of
Spatialism, and even some pieces by John Cage. In fact, before it even got the
name, the earlier version of this groundbreaking art movement was referred to
as the environment, which was started by the American artist Allan Kaprow in
1957. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the term Installation began to be employed
to describe works which take into account the viewer’s entirely sensory
experience, or basically fill out an entire room of a gallery, leaving space and
time as its only dimensional constants.
Either temporary or permanent, installation artworks are constructed within
exhibiting venues like galleries and museums, or in public or private locations.
Installations can include a very broad range of materials used, natural and
man-made alike, giving an individual complete creative freedom over the
artwork. With the development of latest technologies, installation art did not
stay behind; video, sound, immersive virtual reality, Internet and performance
are just some of the media outlets which are often part of the piece. Site-specific
installations are designed to exist and “function” only in the location for which
they were created, making them part of the surroundings. Other artworks could
be moved and presented in various locations, not depending on their
environment.
Left: Tadashi Kawamata - Chairs / Right: Chiharu Shiota - In Silence
Sculpture or Installation Artwork?
A logical question of the difference between Sculpture and Installation might
boggle some critics, and as much as some installations may resemble traditional
craft-based sculptures, they do not fall under the same category. Installation art
effectively inverts the principles of sculpture where the piece is designed to be
viewed from the outside, experienced as a self-contained arrangement of
elements.
On the other hand, installation works often include and envelop the spectator in
the surroundings of the piece, furthermore, it could be said that installation
art is created with the focus on the viewer, where he/she becomes almost
the main subject of the artwork, taking into account the spectator’s involvement
and interaction with the art piece. The formalism of the composition falls to the
background, bringing the effect of the viewer’s spatial and cultural expectation
to a focal point. The sensitively arranged piece creates a dialogue with its
surroundings, waiting for the spectator to take in both the creation and its
environment as an overall immersive display.
Left: Goldschmied & Chiari - Where are we going to dance tonight? / Right: Claire Morgan
installation of a crow falling through a plane of strawberries
Variety of Forms, Locations and Effects of Installation Art
Literally – anywhere; from galleries, museums and exhibiting spaces, to public
spaces such as playgrounds, pedestrian walkways, streets and building sites.
Usually, these artworks really do stand out and grab your attention as soon as
you see/hear/feel them.
However, sometimes it can be quite difficult to discern whether you’re
witnessing an artistic installation piece, or simply an unintentional scene from
everyday life. Like in Bolzano, Italy, when a group of cleaners misinterpreted an
art installation made by Goldschmied & Chiari at the Museion, and thought
they needed to get to work and clean up the area from all the ‘’garbage’’ someone
left behind.
A sub-category called interactive installation, essentially involves the audience
to act on the piece of art, thus making an interactive dialogue between the art
and the spectator. From web-based installations, gallery-based works,
mobile, digital, electronic and all sorts of other structures, the interaction
could be based around almost any type of medium. The beauty of installation
art lies in its vast range of different materials, mediums and environments used
to create a notion-challenging artwork.
Left: Gabriel Dawe - Plexus № 19 / Right: Alex Chinneck - From the Knees of
My Nose to the Belly of My Toes
What Happens to the Installations after the Show?
Logically, these people constitute the majority of the art public, a typical visitor
of an exhibition does not look at the piece on display as a commodity. Naturally,
two-thirds of all the artworks sold are paintings, and installation, video,
performance, drawing, time-based or conceptual practices account for less than
1% of the market.
However, not all of the artists who work in the “unsellable” field of installation
art dream of making a living from their ephemeral creations. In fact, many of
them intentionally wish to thwart the institution of the market, positioning their
artwork as a critique of the system.
For instance, Yves Klein’s The Void was sold to collectors for a gold coin. After
procuring the receipt of the transaction to the collector, the creative promptly
threw the gold coin into the Seine. The said receipts are even now on display in
glass vitrines at the Pompidou Center in Paris. This raises the question of how
the scheme of carefully executed certificates, high-production value
photographs, limited edition prints and other ephemera can actually play the
part of the collectable aspect for the individuals and cultural institutions.
