Installation art is a compelling and deeply engaging form of artwork. Compared to paintings and small sculptures, installation art is arranged and laid out to fully utilize the entire space of a room or a gallery. Starting in the 1960s, this type of art form has gained traction over the years and has become one of the most prevalent practices in contemporary art.
In this article, we’ll talk about a few installation artworks that have become a part of its 60-year history and have proven that even though the exhibit or display is done, the artwork still lives on. You won’t need to get any personal loans or incur debt since most, if not all, of the artworks listed have already been removed.
Olafur Eliasson, The Weather Project
The Weather Project is an installation artwork displayed in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in 2003. Eliasson created something that almost felt like simulated weather indoors. The massive sun-like structure in the ceiling is, in fact, only a semi-circle. The illusion becomes complete when mirrored panels were used for the ceiling to reflect the orb and the people below.
Electricity flowed to the low-frequency lamps that surround the “sun,” making its golden glow the only light source in the dark hall. Eliasson also used humidifiers with a mixture of water and sugar to create the haze enveloping the orb.
Allan Kaprow, Yard
Perhaps the installation art that started it all, Allan Kaprow’s Yard in 1961 ushered in a new era in the history of art. Located in the backyard of the Martha Jackson Gallery, the outdoor area was filled to the brim with black rubber car tires and jutting shapes from the ground covered in tar paper.
Kaprow urged visitors to climb and play around like children in a rubber playground. This expanded and enhanced the visitors’ experience since it allowed them to interact with the art itself. Trivial things like credit scores and getting enough sleep wouldn’t matter anymore if Kaprow knew that his artwork would become the ember that starts the installation art revolution.
Phyllida Barlow, Dock
The Dock by Phyllida Barlow was made for Tate Britain back in 2014. The artwork is a series of structures that have been aimlessly built with wooden debris and nails. Jumbles of scrap wood connected willy-nilly to each other eventually form some sort of rickety scaffold which will then hold more all sorts of brightly colored junk, trash bags, and fabrics and will be secured by rolls of tape.
You could use this artwork as a home security system as it can scare off trespassers because of its unstable facade and the thought that it could all fall apart any second, just like life in the contemporary urban world.
Cornelia Parker, Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View
Still one of the most note-worthy installations in decades past, the Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View in 1991 is unlike any other. Parker’s concept and methodology were unorthodox and were crossing the boundaries of what art is and how to achieve it.
In order for her to achieve her vision, she asked for help from the British military to blow up an old shed filled with various tools and toys. She then collected every piece that can be salvaged from the blast and hung them up in mid-air, creating the illusion of the debris perpetually floating in space, halfway through a gas explosion.
Carsten-Höller, Mushroom Room
Whoever said that art couldn’t be done with living things is wrong. The Mushroom Room sounds funny if you think about the word “room” being repeated in succession. You might say that only a child would find that hilarious, but Carsten Holler probably got this idea from a children’s fairytale. He chose this red and white fungus because of its psychoactive nature.
Making them enormous and hanging them upside-down from the ceiling urges the visitors to duck and maneuver their bodies, creating an additional layer of physical experience on top of the creative study that’s already happening in your brain. The artist believes that observing and interacting with the artwork can activate and awaken creative thinking. No number of online classes can teach you that.
Random International, Rain Room
The perfect blending of art and technology has resulted in the creation of the Rain Room in 2013. Random International’s installation art allows the viewer to walk across rain and come out absolutely dry. This happens because sensors in the room identify their movement and stop the rain around them.
The simple notion of the installation art revealing itself only when there’s a visitor signifies a symbiotic relationship between the viewer and the art. The people in Random International must think that their student loans and sleepless nights were worth it if they get to keep experimenting and creating works of art such as this.
Sources:
Cover Photo: Cobination of photo #2 and #4
Photo #1: YouTube
Photo #2: Flickr
Photo #3: YouTube
Photo #4: YouTube
Photo #5: YouTube
Photo #6: Flickr
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