Emerging from the 1960’s, Installation art  is a relatively new genre of contemporary art. This expressionist type of art movement is a fusion of influences from other artistic movements such as  Dadaism, Spazialismo, Performance art, and Conceptual art.  It  is  characterized by immersive, usually large-scale  works of art and is often site-specific. It is “designed to have a particular relationship, whether temporary or permanent, with its spatial environment on an architectural, conceptual, or social level.” (mymodernmet.com) 

However, the actual term ‘installation art’ only came about  in the 1970’s. ‘Environments’,  they were previously called. Pioneering artists and influencers of this movement include Allan Kaprow , Marcel Duchamp , Yves Klein , and Kurt Schwitters.

Installation art as immersive

One of the more contemporary installation artists is Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. Eliasson is well known for the use of smoke and mirrors in his art. He uses these elements to help ‘capture’ and foreground abstractions such as the passing of time  and spaces in relation to the spectator. The  experimentation of geometric figures with the effects of the reflection and refraction of light and the selection of responsive colours are just some very important techniques Eliasson has mastered through creating his art

In his feature on Netflix’s art documentary “Abstract”, Eliasson emphasizes the importance of the role of the spectator and the artwork’s realization’s dependence on the participant. The physical, mental, and emotional experience and engagement  brought about by installation art becomes a breeding ground for ideas and action. This dynamism and  democratization of ideas  gives attention to art as something that is inclusive and relative.  What we consider truth, Eliasson says, depends on how you look at it.  In the 20th century onwards, art is grounded and has become something the public can  really enjoy and participate in. Art installations foreground the power of one’s perception, choice, and of experience. The diverse realities simultaneously created by the engagement of the participant is fundamental to the artwork itself . Through the engagement by the participant, the art becomes truly,  ‘a complete unified experience’. (Tate.org.uk) 

Another example of the immersive nature of art installation would be the concept of  ‘relational aesthetics’. Relational aesthetics is  a term created by curator Nicholas Bourriaud. Bourriaud  believed in ‘artists as facilitators rather than makers and regarded art as information exchanged between the artist and the viewers. The artist, in this sense, gives audiences access to power and the means to change the world.’ (tate.org.uk)

One of artists that is known for relational aesthetics in their art is Rirkrit Tiravanija. In  Untitled (Free) 1992 held at 303 gallery in SoHo, Manhattan,  Tiravanija set up a temporary kitchen in an empty office where he prepared Thai vegetable curry and served it for free to the spectators-turned-participants of the exhibition. That direct engagement with the audience, the cooking and the eating – that  group effort was the actual  ‘total work of art’ (mit.edu). 

Top left and right: installation views of Rirkrit Tiravanija’s ‘Untitled 1992 (Free)’ (re-created 2007). Above left and right: installation views of ‘Untitled 1992 (Free)’ and a re-creation of Gordon Matta-Clark’s 1972 piece ‘Open House’ (2007). Works exhibited at David Zwirner Gallery. Image from nymag.com.

Art installation as “usually large-scale” and often “site-specific”

In connection with the immersive nature of art installations, they are usually large-scale. It enables maximum accessibility of spectators  to the installation to achieve also that collective immersive experience. There is the intent to make the spectator feel his/her presence in relation to the artwork. Some artworks also intend to hold  large-scale installations as a direct message from the artwork itself. In addition to this, considering the dramatic shortening of a person’s attention span in the present times, the shock and overwhelming atmosphere of a large-scale artwork immediately captures an audience and draws awe to it. This of course includes the strategic placing of the installations giving the spectators the ultimate experience. 

The New York City Waterfalls, 2008

Brooklyn Bridge, New York, 2008

Photo: Rochelle Steiner / Courtesy Public Art Fund

Kusama’s “Infinity Mirror Rooms” have been installed at galleries and museums around the world, attracting millions of visitors. Credit: Collection of Museum MACAN

Persistence of Installation art

For me, these are the reasons why we still experience and appreciate installation art today:

1. Art installation is  adaptive and innovative.

The first things that come to mind when we talk about art is art in its traditional forms such as painting and sculpture. In the case of installation art, it has a very different aesthetic that can use almost anything in any form. It has a unique aesthetic and capacity because of this. Its participatory facet also  elevates the creative experience. Subject matter is usually inspired by current events, issues,  and trends. 

2. Art installation is blunt and a great tool to raise awareness, breed discourse, and spark action. 

The blunt nature of installation art triggers discourse about a lot of things and has become a common platform to raise awareness on socio-political issues like global warming, tyranny, drug wars, and etc. It is also incredibly important in enabling discourse for an opportunity to reverse taboos and to end stigmas which is rightly fitting with the more radical, more accepting mindset that characterizes as it enters the 21st century. With the ever-changing context, still art remains relational.

An example of tackling socio-political issues, Santiago Sierra and his art installations. 

In his work, Sechs Menschen, die für das Sitzen in Pappkartons nicht bezahlt werden dürfen (Six People Who Are not Allowed to Be Paid for Sitting in Cardboard Boxes, 2000):

“Six workers who held status as political exiles from Chechenia (Chechnya) sat inside cardboard boxes for four hours a day, over the course of six weeks. Sierra and the workers who participated hoped that the work would call attention to the plight of the exiles, who, according to German legislation, were to be given 80 marks (about $40) per month, and were prohibited from working in Germany, at risk of deportation if they were to do so.”  (theartstory.org)

3. Installation art provides a great insight into the life of the artist.

Through the immersive aspect of art installation, and as with other art forms, we are given access to the artist’s world; a world entailing his/her own  strengths and vulnerabilities – and that really gives the work depth and perspective. 

For example, ‘Maman’ by Louise Bourgeois. This giant spider was a symbolism to the artist’s own mother  and what their mother-daughter relationship was like. 

“The friend (the spider – why the spider?) because my best friend was my mother and she was deliberate, clever, patient, soothing, reasonable, dainty, subtle, indispensable, neat, and as useful as a spider. She could also defend herself, and me, by refusing to answer ‘stupid’, inquisitive, embarrassing, personal questions.”

“I shall never tire of representing her.”

(Quoted in Louise Bourgeois, p.62.)

Maman, the vast steel and marble sculpture in the form of a giant arachnid was created by the French artist Louise Bourgeois in 1999. (Source: womensartblog.wordpress.com)

There is so much to look forward to when it comes to installation art and its continued progression. To continue to innovate, adapt and  challenge boundaries in the age of  technological advancement makes installation art a great  medium for, as Olafur Eliasson says, turning thinking into doing.

Works Cited

“Allan Kaprow Artworks & Famous Happenings.” The Art Story, http://www.theartstory.org/artist/kaprow-allan/artworks/. 

Brogamats, et al. “Best of 2020: Top 10 Amazing Art Installations That Defined the Past Year.” My Modern Met, 3 Dec. 2020, mymodernmet.com/what-is-installation-art-history-artists/2/. 

Emily Ann Downes. “Practice Questioning Practice.” Emily Ann Downes, 14 Mar. 2017, emilyanndownes.wordpress.com/2017/03/14/practice-questioning-practice/. 

“Installation Art – Concepts & Styles.” The Art Story, http://www.theartstory.org/movement/installation-art/history-and-concepts/. 

“Installation Art Movement Overview.” The Art Story, http://www.theartstory.org/movement/installation-art/. 

Rirkrit Tiravanija. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/rirkritmca.pdf. 

Studio Olafur Eliasson, http://www.olafureliasson.net/. 

Tate. “Installation Art – Art Term.” Tate, http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/i/installation-art. 

Tate. “Louise Bourgeois 1911–2010.” Tate, 1 Jan. 1999, http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/louise-bourgeois-2351. 

Tate. “’Maman’, Louise Bourgeois, 1999.” Tate, 1 Jan. 1999, http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/bourgeois-maman-t12625. 

Tate. “’Maman’, Louise Bourgeois, 1999.” Tate, 1 Jan. 1999, http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/bourgeois-maman-t12625. 

Tate. “Relational Aesthetics – Art Term.” Tate, http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/r/relational-aesthetics. 

Tiravanija, Rirkrit. “Rirkrit Tiravanija. Untitled (Free/Still). 1992/1995/2007/2011-: MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art, http://www.moma.org/collection/works/147206. 

“‘Olafur Eliasson: The Design of Art.’” Netflix Official Site, Netflix, 10 Feb. 2017, http://www.netflix.com/ph/title/80057883.