The List, Installment 5: Installation

My internal dialogue last night got me thinking about all of the installation art that most inspired me, so I've decided I should devote a post to installation work. These are things I've actually seen, so the bulk of the images are going to be pictures I took (I apologize in advance if the quality is sub-par)

Nadya Volicer's Brain Storm at DeCordova, Lincoln, MA:

Here's the blurb about the project from DeCordova's website:

"We asked four artists to create proposals for installations that were suitable for families, and would thus address safety issues, appeal, and age-appropriateness. It was required that the installation be interactive and additionally feature an educational component which would enable families to learn about the artist, installation, and key concepts together. After reviewing the proposals and interviewing the artists, we selected Nadya Volicer's proposal for an installation called Brain Storm.

"Brain Storm" is an immersive environment inspired by, and suggestive of, the creative process. Using nature as a metaphor, this work asks the viewer to step into the moment of inspiration. Entering this installation is like walking into the middle of an idea just before it sweeps you off your feet. Various stages of creativity are intimated in the solidity of the central tree, the rings of history in the truncated, moveable stumps, the excited flurry of the whirlpool circling the room, the waves of grass pushing up through the ground. In this work, the process of art-making mirrors the regenerating growth of nature, from seed to leaf to seed. This posits art-making as a continuous practice of one idea germinating the next, on an individual basis, and throughout the history of art.
-Nadya Volicer"

In order to enter the space, you have to take off your shoes, which immediately sets the mood for a childhood experience (I mean, the room is intended to engage families, but I think everybody can benefit from acting like a kid every once in a while). Upon entering the room, you realize that the floor is covered in swatches of fabric with varying colors and textures, which you can actually feel because you're barefoot!

Everything in the room is made from reused/ recycled materials

The leaves and birds are handmade paper

There's a pamphlet that provides directions on how to make your own

The tree stumps are made of jigsaw wood swatches and old magazines

And the areas around the trees that are made to look like fallen leaves are actually knotted rags (which provide yet another texture for your toes to explore)

Perhaps best of all, there are books! You can sit on the floor or on a stump and select from such classics as Oh the Places You'll Go and The Giving Tree (I chose the latter)

Material World: Sculpture to Environment at Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA:

From their website:

"Working in a range of modest, industrially produced materials -- from plastic sheeting to fishing line -- Michael Beutler, Orly Genger, Tobias Putrih, Alyson Shotz, Dan Steinhilber, and collaborators Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen engage the former factory spaces of our second and third floors, creating extraordinary environments from ordinary things."

I'll walk you through the installations as I encountered them (focusing on my favorites), starting with Tobias Pruith's Re-projection:

Using only a spotlight and monofilament, Pruith created a mesmerizing space to encounter

You could stand inside the arc created by the string, surrounded by visible light...

As you moved closer to the wall, the space got smaller

Next is Wade Kavenaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen's White Stag:

Guess what these creeping biomorphic structures are made of. That's right, paper! They were so amazing and associative. Like cartilage trees...

or tentacles

or alien plant tendrils

or dinosaur bones

or bodily caverns

or stalactites

They also shared space with Orly Genger's Big Boss:

Genger used 100 miles of industrial rope to create this monumental, hulking mass of material

It's like it broke through the wall

It functioned like lava

or a waterfall

Alyson Shotz' The Geometry of Light related well to Pruith's piece from earlier:

It combined plastic discs with glass beads to make an elegant, sweeping form

I loved the way the shadows activated the floor and wall space

It was like enormous jewelry made of water

In the next room was Eli Levenstein's Reading Room:
(This is the installation I referred to in the VTS post)

Every inch of the space was activated! The lights were strung on multicolored wires.

The windows were covered in intricate, crispy layers of paper clips and bubble wrap

so cool!!

There were cushions made of more bubble wrap and colorful rubber bands/ string

and, of course, there were books

Look at the difference between the adults and the kids. Adults...

Kids

This may be the most illustrative photo...

The walls had more bright string and shiny nails

which pointed the way to this gorgeous staircase, which took you to...

More of White Stag!!!

This was a much brighter space, so the mood of them was less prehistoric, and more exploratory

Yet another example of kids showing everybody how it's done

The paper started to feel like feathers

This was taken standing inside one of the large cavernous flutes. It made me think of lungs

Look at that fluid movement!

I'll stop here because the Mass MoCA exhibit kind of counts as 5 installations, which makes this a pretty long post. But my point is, this is how you engage people!