Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called public art, land art or art intervention; however, the boundaries between these terms overlap.
History
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Visitors interact with a couple in bed, inside one of the many environments of La Menesunda (1965), one of the earliest large-scale installations in art history.[1][2]Installation art can be either temporary or permanent. Installation artworks have been constructed in exhibition spaces such as museums and galleries, as well as public and private spaces. The genre incorporates a broad range of everyday and natural materials, which are often chosen for their "evocative" qualities, as well as new media such as video, sound, performance, immersive virtual reality and the internet. Many installations are site-specific in that they are designed to exist only in the space for which they were created, appealing to qualities evident in a three-dimensional immersive medium. Artistic collectives such as the Exhibition Lab at New York's American Museum of Natural History created environments to showcase the natural world in as realistic a medium as possible. Likewise, Walt Disney Imagineering employed a similar philosophy when designing the multiple immersive spaces for Disneyland in 1955. Since its acceptance as a separate discipline, a number of institutions focusing on Installation art were created. These included the Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh, the Museum of Installation in London, and the Fairy Doors of Ann Arbor, MI, among others.
Installation art came to prominence in the 1970s but its roots can be identified in earlier artists such as Marcel Duchamp and his use of the readymade and Kurt Schwitters' Merz art objects, rather than more traditional craft based sculpture. The "intention" of the artist is paramount in much later installation art whose roots lie in the conceptual art of the 1960s. This again is a departure from traditional sculpture which places its focus on form. Early non-Western installation art includes events staged by the Gutai group in Japan starting in 1954, which influenced American installation pioneers like Allan Kaprow. Wolf Vostell shows his installation 6 TV Dé-coll/age in 1963[3] at the Smolin Gallery in New York.
Installation
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Allan McCollum.The Shapes Project, 2005/06Installation as nomenclature for a specific form of art came into use fairly recently; its first use as documented by the Oxford English Dictionary was in 1969. It was coined in this context, in reference to a form of art that had arguably existed since prehistory but was not regarded as a discrete category until the mid-twentieth century. Allan Kaprow used the term "Environment" in 1958 (Kaprow 6) to describe his transformed indoor spaces; this later joined such terms as "project art" and "temporary art."
Essentially, installation/environmental art takes into account a broader sensory experience, rather than floating framed points of focus on a "neutral" wall or displaying isolated objects (literally) on a pedestal. This may leave space and time as its only dimensional constants, implying dissolution of the line between "art" and "life"; Kaprow noted that "if we bypass 'art' and take nature itself as a model or point of departure, we may be able to devise a different kind of art... out of the sensory stuff of ordinary life".
Gesamtkunstwerk
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The conscious act of artistically addressing all the senses with regard to a total experience made a resounding debut in 1849 when Richard Wagner conceived of a Gesamtkunstwerk, or an operatic work for the stage that drew inspiration from ancient Greek theater in its inclusion of all the major art forms: painting, writing, music, etc. (Britannica). In devising operatic works to commandeer the audience's senses, Wagner left nothing unobserved: architecture, ambience, and even the audience itself were considered and manipulated in order to achieve a state of total artistic immersion. In the book "Themes in Contemporary Art", it is suggested that "installations in the 1980s and 1990s were increasingly characterized by networks of operations involving the interaction among complex architectural settings, environmental sites and extensive use of everyday objects in ordinary contexts. With the advent of video in 1965, a concurrent strand of installation evolved through the use of new and ever-changing technologies, and what had been simple video installations expanded to include complex interactive, multimedia and virtual reality environments".
Art and Objecthood
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In "Art and Objecthood", Michael Fried derisively labels art that acknowledges the viewer as "theatrical" (Fried 45). There is a strong parallel between installation and theater: both play to a viewer who is expected to be at once immersed in the sensory/narrative experience that surrounds him and maintain a degree of self-identity as a viewer. The traditional theater-goer does not forget that they have come in from outside to sit and take in a created experience; a trademark of installation art has been the curious and eager viewer, still aware that they are in an exhibition setting and tentatively exploring the novel universe of the installation.
The artist and critic Ilya Kabakov mentions this essential phenomenon in the introduction to his lectures "On the "Total" Installation": "[One] is simultaneously both a 'victim' and a viewer, who on the one hand surveys and evaluates the installation, and on the other, follows those associations, recollections which arise in him[;] he is overcome by the intense atmosphere of the total illusion". Here installation art bestows an unprecedented importance on the observer's inclusion in that which he observes. The expectations and social habits that the viewer brings with him into the space of the installation will remain with him as he enters, to be either applied or negated once he has taken in the new environment. What is common to nearly all installation art is a consideration of the experience in toto and the problems it may present, namely the constant conflict between disinterested criticism and sympathetic involvement. Television and video offer somewhat immersive experiences, but their unrelenting control over the rhythm of passing time and the arrangement of images precludes an intimately personal viewing experience. Ultimately, the only things a viewer can be assured of when experiencing the work are his own thoughts and preconceptions and the basic rules of space and time. All else may be molded by the artist's hands.
The central importance of the subjective point of view when experiencing installation art, points toward a disregard for traditional Platonic image theory. In effect, the entire installation adopts the character of the simulacrum or flawed statue: it neglects any ideal form in favor of optimizing its direct appearance to the observer. Installation art operates fully within the realm of sensory perception, in a sense "installing" the viewer into an artificial system with an appeal to his subjective perception as its ultimate goal.
Interactive installations
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An urban interactive art installation by Maurizio Bolognini (Genoa, 2005), which everybody can modify by using a cell phone.An interactive installation frequently involves the audience acting on the work of art or the piece responding to users' activity.[4] There are several kinds of interactive installations that artists produce, these include web-based installations (e.g., Telegarden), gallery-based installations, digital-based installations, electronic-based installations, mobile-based installations, etc. Interactive installations appeared mostly at end of the 1980s (Legible City by Jeffrey Shaw, La plume by Edmond Couchot, Michel Bret...) and became a genre during the 1990s, when artists became particularly interested in using the participation of the audiences to activate and reveal the meaning of the installation.
Paul Kuniholm Installation Art, for Storefronts, a Shunpike programImmersive virtual reality
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With the improvement of technology over the years, artists are more able to explore outside of the boundaries that were never able to be explored by artists in the past.[5] The media used are more experimental and bold; they are also usually cross media and may involve sensors, which plays on the reaction to the audiences' movement when looking at the installations. By using virtual reality as a medium, immersive virtual reality art is probably the most deeply interactive form of art.[6] By allowing the spectator to "visit" the representation, the artist creates "situations to live" vs "spectacle to watch".[7]
Gallery
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See also
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References
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Bibliography
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Contemporary installation organizations and museums
Installation art
Meaningful installation art can range in scale, concept, and even material. Despite these differences piece to piece, it's important to understand the installation art definition.
Installation art is a visual artwork that can be constructed from a variety of materials and can be created in a variety of locations. Installation art aims to change a viewers perception of the space and environment in which it is in. This art differs from other three-dimensional art mediums because it utilizes the changing perspective of the viewer as they move. Viewers are able to become involved and even participate within the piece, whereas a sculpture is made to be viewed from the outside.
This article is part of our ongoing series on Art Styles. You can also refer to our Art History Timeline post to help place this movement in context.
The history of this movement can be traced back to various artists and art styles. Most notably, the roots of installation art can be seen in conceptual art.
Conceptual art has its own history tracing back to Marcel DuChamp around 1913 into the 1950s and '60s. To better understand this movement's context, take a look at the video below breaking down the case of conceptual art.
Artist Sol LeWitt, as noted in the video above summarizes the art form eloquently. “In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work… The idea becomes the machine that makes the art.”
This principle that "the idea" is the driving force behind a work of art is also found throughout installation art. Whether the idea is specific and distinct or an exercise that requires participation, it is the idea of experience that drives an installation piece.
In 1958, the term “environment” was used by artist Allan Kaprow to describe his work in which a room and viewer participation were required within the piece. While installation art is not unique in its focus on ideas and concepts like conceptual art, it distinguishes itself in the way it engages a viewer.
Installation art distinguishes itself from other mediums such as film, paintings, and sculpture by how it involves the viewer. Artist Olafur Eliasson brilliantly makes this point by calling the viewer of an installation piece the “Protagonist.” The work of art depends on a viewer’s participation. One of the best examples of this is Eliasson’s work “Beauty” (1993).
Eliasson created a rainbow from a mist of water and light. However, the rainbow also depended on the angle of the eye of the viewer. The rainbow was totally dependent on the viewer and where they were in the room.
Installation art has is one of the most experiential art mediums that requires active participation from a viewer to attempt to understand a work. Eliasson goes as far as to call a viewer of his work a “participant.”
All of this type of art takes into account how a viewer will experience the art through constants of space and time. These factors are what define differing types of art installations.All of this type of art takes into account how a viewer will experience the art through constants of space and time. These factors are what define differing types of art installations.
This art is a medium that can make a lasting impression on a viewer or participant. A concept, story, or simply a feeling can linger in the mind of a viewer long after leaving the installation. To understand this, let’s take a look at some iconic art installations that have led to conversations about the concepts to this day.
Olafur Eliasson’s The New York City’s Waterfalls (2008) is one of the most iconic mobile installations. Installation art that is meant to be showcased in various geographical locations will be made to be disassembled and reassembled. This makes it “mobile.”
Artists take mobile installations city to city or even country to country. In this video, Eliasson explains how the movement of water across space presents scale.
For this reason, he utilized the same sized waterfall in various spaces in New York to give scale to New York’s most iconic spaces.
Yard by Allan Kaprow is arguably one of the trailblazing installation pieces that marked a new era of art. Kaprow filled the exterior yard of New York’s Martha Jackson Gallery with black rubber tires. Participants were encouraged to play, run, jump, and frolic across the tires.
Yard was a manifestation of Kaprow’s approach to his work which aimed closer toward reality and ordinary life than anything else. Kaprow put it best saying, “Life is much more interesting than art. The line between art and life should be kept as fluid, and perhaps indistinct, as possible.”
Out of all of Yayoi Kusama’s works, she is perhaps most notably known for the creation of ‘Infinity Rooms.’ In these installations, Kusama lines the walls, ceilings and floors with mirrors. She then fills them with various types of lights, colors, and refractive materials such as chandeliers and glass. This in combination with the mirrors give the participants a sensation of infinity.
Kusama has created various ‘Infinity Rooms’ that have been exhibited around the world. Below is The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away, an installation that conjures up the experience of drifting off into the vast, infinite universe.
As you can see from these examples, installation art has the unique ability to provide a physical manifestation of concept while simultaneously affecting a participant emotionally and sensationally. Its lack of any true restrictions has led to some of the most iconic and creative works of art in history.