|
Installation Art
BY
Sylvia
|
page
1
‘Installation art’ is a term that loosely refers to the type of art into which the viewer physically enters, and which is often described as ‘theatrical’, ‘immersive’ or ‘experiential’. However, the sheer diversity in terms of appearance, content and scope of the work produced today under this name, and the freedom with which the term is used, almost preclude it from having any meaning. The word ‘installation’ has now expanded to describe any arrangement of objects in any given space, to the point where it can happily be applied even to a conventional display of paintings on a wall.
But there is a fine line between an installation of art and installation art. This ambiguity has been present since the terms first came into use in the 1960s. During this decade, the word ‘installation’ was employed by art magazines to describe the way in which an exhibition was arranged. The photographic documentation of this arrangement was termed an ‘installation shot’, and this gave rise to the use of the word for works that used the whole space as ‘installation art’. Since then, the distinction between an installation of works of art and ‘ installation art’ proper has become increasingly blurred.
What both terms have in common is a desire to heighten the viewer’s awareness of how objects are positioned in a space, and of our bodily response to this. However, there are also important differences. An installation of art is secondary in importance to the individual works it contains, while in a work of installation art, the space, and the ensemble of elements within it, are regarded in their entirety as a singular entity. Installation art creates a situation into which the viewer physically enters, and insists that you regard this as a singular totality.
Installation art therefore differs from traditional media in that it addresses the viewer directly as a literal presence in the space. Rather than imagining the viewer as a pair of disembodied eyes that survey the work from a distance, installation art presupposes an embodied viewer whose senses of touch, smell and sound are as heightened as their sense of vision. This insistence on the literal presence of the viewer is arguably the key characteristic of installation art.
The following question immediately raised: Who is the spectator of installation art? What kind of ‘participation’ does he or she have in the work? Why is installation at pains to emphasize first-hand ‘experience’, and what kinds of ‘experience’ does it offer? These are the kinds of questions that we seek to answer, and as such it is as much theory of installation art - of how and why it exists - as it is a history. Besides, installation art already possesses an increasingly canonical history.
While different approaches accurately reflects different moments in installation art’s development, it also forces similarities between disparate and unrelated works, and does little to clarify what we actually mean by ‘installation art’. One reason for this is that installation art does not enjoy a straightforward historical development. Its influences have been diverse: architecture, cinema, performance art, sculpture, theatre, set design, curating, land art and painting have all impacted upon it at different moments. Rather than there being one history, there seem to be several parallel ones, each enacting a particular list of concerns. This multiple history is manifested today in the sheer diversity of work being produced under the name of installation art, in which any number of these influences can be simultaneously apparent. Some installations plunge you into a fictional world - like a film or theatre set - while others offer little visual stimuli, a bare minimum of perceptual cues to be sensed. Some installations are geared towards heightening your awareness of particular senses while others seem to steal your sense of self-presence, refracting your image into an infinity of mirror reflections or plunging you into darkness. Others discourage you from contemplation and insist that you act - write something down, have a drink, or talk to other people. These different types of viewing experience indicate that a different approach to the history of installation art is necessary: one that focuses not on theme or materials, but on the viewer’s experience.
© 2005 by TAXI Design Network. All rights reserved.
But there is a fine line between an installation of art and installation art. This ambiguity has been present since the terms first came into use in the 1960s. During this decade, the word ‘installation’ was employed by art magazines to describe the way in which an exhibition was arranged. The photographic documentation of this arrangement was termed an ‘installation shot’, and this gave rise to the use of the word for works that used the whole space as ‘installation art’. Since then, the distinction between an installation of works of art and ‘ installation art’ proper has become increasingly blurred.
What both terms have in common is a desire to heighten the viewer’s awareness of how objects are positioned in a space, and of our bodily response to this. However, there are also important differences. An installation of art is secondary in importance to the individual works it contains, while in a work of installation art, the space, and the ensemble of elements within it, are regarded in their entirety as a singular entity. Installation art creates a situation into which the viewer physically enters, and insists that you regard this as a singular totality.
Installation art therefore differs from traditional media in that it addresses the viewer directly as a literal presence in the space. Rather than imagining the viewer as a pair of disembodied eyes that survey the work from a distance, installation art presupposes an embodied viewer whose senses of touch, smell and sound are as heightened as their sense of vision. This insistence on the literal presence of the viewer is arguably the key characteristic of installation art.
The following question immediately raised: Who is the spectator of installation art? What kind of ‘participation’ does he or she have in the work? Why is installation at pains to emphasize first-hand ‘experience’, and what kinds of ‘experience’ does it offer? These are the kinds of questions that we seek to answer, and as such it is as much theory of installation art - of how and why it exists - as it is a history. Besides, installation art already possesses an increasingly canonical history.
While different approaches accurately reflects different moments in installation art’s development, it also forces similarities between disparate and unrelated works, and does little to clarify what we actually mean by ‘installation art’. One reason for this is that installation art does not enjoy a straightforward historical development. Its influences have been diverse: architecture, cinema, performance art, sculpture, theatre, set design, curating, land art and painting have all impacted upon it at different moments. Rather than there being one history, there seem to be several parallel ones, each enacting a particular list of concerns. This multiple history is manifested today in the sheer diversity of work being produced under the name of installation art, in which any number of these influences can be simultaneously apparent. Some installations plunge you into a fictional world - like a film or theatre set - while others offer little visual stimuli, a bare minimum of perceptual cues to be sensed. Some installations are geared towards heightening your awareness of particular senses while others seem to steal your sense of self-presence, refracting your image into an infinity of mirror reflections or plunging you into darkness. Others discourage you from contemplation and insist that you act - write something down, have a drink, or talk to other people. These different types of viewing experience indicate that a different approach to the history of installation art is necessary: one that focuses not on theme or materials, but on the viewer’s experience.
© 2005 by TAXI Design Network. All rights reserved.