Installation Art – 1500 word essay

Installation art is the term given to an art piece made for indoor spaces,
although they can be created for the outdoors also. Installations are
generally designed to manipulate ones view of space. These mainly 3D
artworks became well known in the 1970s and can actually fall under the
art movement, ‘Modernism’. Unlike other art movements which highlight
different styles, installation art is more so a display than a set movement,
meaning it can showcase many different medias. These artworks can be
created from paintings, sculptures, objects, and more.

As installation art can be created and formed using many different

mediums, objects and techniques, artists will use different forms of art to
create their installations to convey their message. A lot of artists want to
change our perception of the world. Artist, Bill Seaman, used an
interactive video for his installation ‘Exchange Fields’ (Installation Art:
Who Cares?, 2013, KrollerMullerMuseum, [Video]). The installation has
both digital and physical aspects which was fabricated to permit an
interactive experience for the viewer. The installation that Bill Seaman
has created consists of different created sculptures, these being different
furniture pieces. The digital video that plays presents “a recorded dance
and choreography of Regina van Berkel”. Now, the idea of this installation
was to suggest how each of these furniture pieces would accompany a
specific part of the human body. The different recorded choreographies
play when that piece of furniture has been interacted with by the
viewers. The actual recorded dances themselves were produced based on
how Seaman believed the body would have been related and/or
positioned with the certain pieces of furniture. (ADA, Database of Digital
Art, 1999-2022, Bill Seaman). Bill Seamans use of digital art is one of the
many possibilities to create installations.

Carina Ow is a digital installation artist. In 2011, the installation ‘Plane

White’ was displayed to encourage the public to join in with this
immersive and unfamiliar experience. Like most museums, the artwork is
exhibited into a white room where the public are instructed to interact
with the wall along with sharing social exchanges to display the artwork
on the wall (Taction, Interactive Performance Installation). What makes
this installation interesting is, not only do you get to personally bring the
painting to life by interacting with it and each individual section but you
also get “to hear an orchestrated painting”.

Installation artist, Dame Rachel Whiteread is a sculpture based artist who

designs casts of everyday items and objects using a liquid into a mould.
These liquids can be anything like “concrete, resin, and even snow”.
Whiteread is one of the many artists that uses negative space to their
advantage. She uses the negative space in her installations to imitate
specific aspects of the object. For example; In Whitereads installation,
‘Untitled (Paperbacks)’, by first glance, we see shelves stacked with
books. By taking a closer look at the ‘books’, you see that what you
originally thought was the paper, is actually the negative space around
the bookcase and books, imitating the appearance of hundreds of sheets
of paper and their textures (5 things to know: Rachel Whiteread,
tate.org). Whiteread began her sculpture installation journey by casting
negative space around random household objects. She casted things such
as; underneath her mattress (Untitled (Bed), 1991), her hot water bottle
(Untitled (Pink Torso), 1995) and even casted the inside of her wardrobe
by pouring plaster inside (Closet, 1998) (Modern Art Journal by Mary
Richards, October 2017. tate.org). Seeing Rachel Whitereads installations,
its clear to see that she has an occurring theme based around basic
architecture and simplicity along with exploring negative space. Due to
her architectural themes, her work was deemed riddle-like. She created
things every person uses every single day, yet you cant use them. She
creates doors and stairs, none of which you can use. Constantly creating
architecture aspects that appear in use but are in fact, of no use (Rachel
Whiteread’s “House” Was Unlivable, Controversial, and Unforgettable.
Artsy Editorial by Alina Cohen, 14th September, 2018). Her work was
heavily influenced by everyday objects and their surrounding space and
also by sculpture installation artist, Cornelia Parker.

Cornelia Parker is an installation artist that had continuous themes of

deconstruction, transformation and the delicacy of existence (British, b.
1956). Her work would consist of basic objects, mainly band instruments
and banned pornography tapes. The installations she produced were
deemed controversial as her work consisted of techniques with
connotations of violence. One of her most famous installations, ‘Cold
 Dark Matter: An Exploded View’, is of an exploded shed positioned back
together to look as if time has frozen just as the shed had blown up. To
create this, she put items inside the shed and then had the British Army
blow them up for her. Selecting the debris, the installation was then
created using the destruction pieces and placed carefully to resemble the
shed mid-explosion (The story of Cold Dark Matter, tate.org). Cornelia
Parkers destructive and violent techniques through her work were not all
done via explosions. There were other techniques she used,
experimenting with burning and squashing objects, which she called,
‘Avoided Objects’ (Biography of Cornelia Parker, Accomplishments, The
Art Story, 2022). An example of her other destructive techniques would
be; ‘Thirty Pieces of Silver’ 1988-1989. This installation incorporated
thousands of silver objects, “including plates, spoons, candlesticks,
trophies, cigarettes cases, teapots and trombones” (Thirty Pieces of Silver
summary, Helen Delaney, March 2003, tate.org). The objects were all
crushed with a steamroller so that each silver item were knocked down to
the same worth. Parkers overall plan was to wear down the materialistic
values of a worthy object to display just how destructive the world can
be. Her installations were not to portray pure violence and destruction
but rather to highlight the capabilities of transformation and resurrection
(Thirty Pieces of Silver summary, Helen Delaney, March 2003, tate.org).

An installation artist by the name of Chiharu Shiota, is an artist that I will

take heavy influence and inspiration from in my future work. I find her
work extremely fascinating and visually interesting to view. She
specialises in manufacturing entire room-sized installations of coloured
webbed-thread along with objects. The installations that Shiota has
created that I am most fond of is, ‘Sleeping is like death’ and ‘Chiharu
Shiota: Tracing Boundaries’. ‘Tracing boundaries’, unlike ‘Sleeping is like
death’, is created using red thread instead of black. This artwork is made
to be immersive and displays a room absolutely consumed by red
webbed thread from the ceiling, down the walls, round the negative
space and to the floor of the room, leaving an empty path for the public
to experience walking through. Along the webbed surrounded path and
ahead is a door which allows you to pass through onto the next section of
the room. The next section displays the same webbed surrounded
appearance but of an open space with several doors, rather than a path
to follow and a singular door. Shiotas use of the rooms space and how
appealing it appears despite how simplistic it seems is what allows me to
be so interested. The ‘Sleeping is like death’ art piece, I believe could
invoke a feeling of fear as I personally see the webbed appearance over
the beds as a representation of different fears and phobias an individual
may have, such as; a fear of the dark (Nyctophobia), nightmares, sleep
paralysis and possibly even arachnophobia (an irrational fear of spiders)
due to an almost spider web effect the thread Shiota has designed
creates. I myself, feel as though this installation could represent
claustrophobia. The black webbed thread coming from the walls and
down onto the bed frames makes the piece appear as if a to-be sleeping
person is about to be consumed by the darkness and closeness of the
threads. I also believe, due to the solid black colour forming by the near
threads, that the entire room along with the beds and anyone that steps
foot inside, is about to be devoured by the overwhelming darkness. I
would like to be able to create artworks myself that could be subjectively
perceived based on the whoever the person is viewing it. I want to be
able to create a piece with its own theme and message but also
something that can be representing biased feelings from the viewer. I
personally feel as if Chiahru Shiotas installations convey simplicity with its
basic objects but also incorporates complexity aspects with its delicate
webbed thread.

Installation art is a modernised movement that created immersive

experiences within outdoor but mainly indoor spaces. The artworks are
created to be larger than your usual artworks. They are designed
specifically for its chosen location, allowing these pieces to transform a
regular empty space into an interactive and immersive
experience/environment (Best of 2021: Top 10 Incredible Art Installations
Celebrate a Return to Public Life, My Modern Met Team, 2nd December
2021). Installation art will always be a movement designed to change our
perception of things and space.
 Essay References

IMMA. 2022. Installation Art - IMMA. [ONLINE] Available at:

https://imma.ie/what-is-art/series-1-1970-now/installation-art/.
[Accessed 21 April 2022].

EXCHANGE FIELDS BY BILL SEAMAN - ADA | Archive of Digital Art. 2022.

EXCHANGE FIELDS BY BILL SEAMAN - ADA | Archive of Digital Art.
[ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.digitalartarchive.at/database/general/work/exchange-
fields.html. [Accessed 21 April 2022].

YouTube. 2022. Installation Art: Who Cares? - YouTube. [ONLINE]

Available at: https://youtu.be/viwshM95Kaw. [Accessed 21 April 2022].

Tate. 2022. Five Things to Know: Rachel Whiteread | Tate. [ONLINE]

Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/rachel-whiteread-
2319/five-things-know-rachel-whiteread. [Accessed 21 April 2022].

MoMA. 2022. Rachel Whiteread. Untitled (Bed). 1991 | MoMA .

[ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/82209. [Accessed 21 April
2022].

www.google.co.uk. 2022. No page title. [ONLINE] Available at:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/artanddesign
/2017/sep/11/rachel-whiteread-exhibition-review-tate-britain.
[Accessed 21 April 2022].

"Rachel Whiteread Review: Where Memories Dwell" by Eric Gibson -

The Wall Street Journal - Press - Luhring Augustine. 2022. "Rachel
Whiteread Review: Where Memories Dwell" by Eric Gibson - The Wall
Street Journal - Press - Luhring Augustine. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.luhringaugustine.com/press/rachel-whiteread-review-
where-memories-dwell-by-eric-gibson. [Accessed 21 April 2022].
 Tate. 2022. Who is Rachel Whiteread? | Tate Kids. [ONLINE] Available
at: https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/explore/who-is/who-rachel-
whiteread. [Accessed 21 April 2022].

Tate. 2022. The Story of Cold Dark Matter | Tate. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/parker-cold-dark-matter-an-
exploded-view-t06949/story-cold-dark-matter. [Accessed 21 April
2022].

The Art Story. 2022. Cornelia Parker Biography, Life & Quotes |
TheArtStory. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.theartstory.org/amp/artist/parker-cornelia/life-and-
legacy/#biography_header. [Accessed 21 April 2022].

Plane White (2011) – Taction. 2022. Plane White (2011) – Taction.

[ONLINE] Available at: https://taction.lim.media/research/plane-white-
2011/. [Accessed 21 April 2022].

Alina Cohen. 2022. Rachel Whiteread’s “House” Was Unlivable,

Controversial, and Unforgettable - Artsy. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.artsy.net/article/artsy-
editorial-rachel-whitereads-house-unlivable-controversial-
unforgettable/amp. [Accessed 21 April 2022].
 Image References – In Order

MoMA. 2022. Rachel Whiteread. Untitled (Paperbacks). 1997 | MoMA .

[ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.moma.org/audio/playlist/223/2893. [Accessed 21 April
2022].

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Bill-Seaman-Exchange-Fields-
2000-C-http-wwwartribunecom_fig3_320831470

EXCHANGE FIELDS BY BILL SEAMAN - ADA | Archive of Digital Art. 2022.

EXCHANGE FIELDS BY BILL SEAMAN - ADA | Archive of Digital Art.
[ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.digitalartarchive.at/database/general/work/exchange-
fields.html. [Accessed 21 April 2022].

Tate. 2022. The Story of Cold Dark Matter | Tate. [ONLINE] Available at:
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/parker-cold-dark-matter-an-
exploded-view-t06949/story-cold-dark-matter. [Accessed 21 April
2022].

Art Research Map. 2022. Art Research Map – CHIHARU SHIOTA –

‘Sleeping is like death’. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://artresearchmap.com/exhibitions/chiharu-shiota-sleeping-is-like-
death_25/. [Accessed 21 April 2022].

Chiharu Shiota: Tracing Boundaries - Announcements - e-flux. 2022.

Chiharu Shiota: Tracing Boundaries - Announcements - e-flux. [ONLINE]
Available at: https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/424262/chiharu-
shiotatracing-boundaries/. [Accessed 21 April 2022].