Installation art

Type of modern art in which the artist uses, as part of the composition, the specific setting (such as walls, floor, lights, and fittings) along with various materials. Typically the chosen materials more or less fill the space, and the viewer is often able to move around or otherwise interact with the work, so that they become part of that work in that specific moment in time. There are various precedents for this kind of art, but it was not until the 1980s that artists began to specialize in installations. Works are usually intended to be impermanent, but some have been purchased and preserved. Examples include Judy Pfaff's Kabuki (Formula Atlantic) (1981; Hirshhorn Museum, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC), and Richard Wilson's 20/50 (1987; Saatchi Gallery, London), a room filled with sump oil.

During the 1930s the surrealists often arranged exhibitions in which the whole interior of a gallery took on something of an appearance of a fun fair, and at the same time the German artist Kurt Schwitters was transforming the interior of his house in Hamburg by turning it into a giant junk collage. These may be seen as forerunners of Installation art. In 1958 the French artist Yves Klein had an exhibition in Paris consisting of an empty room, and this is sometimes regarded as the first installation in the sense in which the word is now used, although the term did not come into common use until the 1970s. At this time installations were often temporary creations. They were part of a fashionable movement to try to undermine the idea of art being a collectable object. This trend is seen also in Arte Povera and conceptual art. However, installations are now often intended for permanent display, and even the most unconventional creations have been bought and sold like traditional works of art. One well-known example is Richard Wilson's 20:50, a room filled with sump oil that was originally created in 1987 for the Matt's Gallery in London, but was subsequently shown at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh, and was then bought by the Saatchi Collection, London. Other installation artists include Bill Viola, Donald Judd, and Christo.