History Of Installation Art

The founding father of installation art was Marcel Duchamp with his “fountain” in 1917. Installation artists, then called contemporary artists, were different in a sense that they were more concerned with the presentation of their message rather than the means used to attain it (Visual Arts Cork). In the 1930’s, surrealists often organized and designed exhibitions such that the interior of their galleries suggested an appearance of a “artistic decor” and similarly the German artist Kurt Schwitters was altering the interior of his own house in Hamburg by making it into a junk collage. These surrealists along with Schwitters may be considered as the forerunners of Installation art. Another example may be the infamous and controversial “empty room” by French artist Yves Klein in 1958, which is sometimes considered as the first artistic installation; at the time they were called temporary or contemporary creations. The term installation was coined and widely used and accepted around the 1970’s; installation artists were part of an aesthetic movement which was trying to undermine the fact and idea of art being a collectable (Tiscali).

References:

Installation art. (2009, March 5). Retrieved from http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/ij/installation.html

installaion art. Encyclopedia of irish and world art. Retrieved (2010, March 21) from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/installation-art.htm

Marcel duchamp's fountain. (1917). [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.yoursdaily.com/var/yoursdaily/storage/images/media/images/arts/marcel_duchamp_s_fountain_1917/12187-1-eng-GB/marcel_duchamp_s_fountain_1917_large.jpg