In the book Installation Art by Claire Bishop, the work featured therein is divided into four categories. As makers of installations these can become specific strategies to help us understand how our viewer may interact with the work and help us to craft an installation that effectively conveys meaning. The text that follows is based on my interpretation the book.
Dreamscapes
The dream may be psychological, in the Freudian sense, using metaphors and symbolism to evoke elusive content.
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George Segal Couple in Open Doorway 1977 |
Mystic spirituality can function in a similar manner. A bit of both may be found in the work of Paul Thek, highly influenced by his Catholic upbringing;
Minimalism escaped from expressionist dogma with pure formalism. It only asks...'what am I seeing?'
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| Robert Morris, installation in the Green Gallery, New York, 1964 |
A counter 'anti-minimalist' movement added content to the language of minimalism;
Here a simple gesture is accompanied by a message, often disruptive.
Mimetic Engulfment
Here you are absorbed, or reflected into, the environment. In Larry Bell's works viewer's reflections can be absorbed into the piece.
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| Larry Bell. Photo: World Red Eye. |
Or in the case of Yayoi Kusama's chamber rooms the viewer's multiple reflections combine with the illusion of infinite space.
Activated Spectatorship
These works provoke actions from the viewer. They usually have political leanings, sometimes governmental and sometimes personal. Joseph Beuys is a seminal example.
Not only was Beuys an artist but also active in government as a founder or co-founder of the German Student Party (1967), Organization for Direct Democracy Through Referendum (1971), Free International University for Creativity and Interdisciplinary Research (1974), and German Green Party Die Grünen (1980).
Rirkrit Tiravanija's installations often have had political content, but he wants you to be physically nurished as well.
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| This exhibition at the Hirshhorn includes a communal dining space in which visitors were served curry and invited to share a meal together. The installation included a large-scale mural, drawn on the walls over the course of the exhibition, which referenced protests against Thai government policies. |
