Zurbrugg, Nicholas. “Installation Art – Essence and Existence”. In What is Installation Art? An Anthology of writings on Australian Installation art, edited by Adam Geczy and Benjamin Genocchio, 25-31. Sydney: Power Publications, 2001.
In this chapter Zurbrugg discusses the origins and developments of what we now know to be Installation art. It is through this discourse that he attempts to not only define installation art but also discover what constitutes a successful and interesting installation.
Zurbrugg begins by suggesting that Postmodern Installation art is possibly the most interesting form of innovative art, in the sense that not only does it ‘widen the language of creativity’ but also pushes and challenges the preconceptions about art. I feel through his exploration of early installation art and the connections made to the avant-garde movements of futurism, dada, and surrealism that the artists involved in these movements did exactly that. Zurbrugg includes many references to past exhibitions that have made an impact by challenging ones notions of what art is as well as important literature throughout the chapter, enhancing and making his argument more credible.
Zurbrugg references more contemporary artists’ work to highlight the connection with the avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century. One example of how he has done this successfully is in his discussion of the work of John Cage. Zurbrugg not only convinces you that Cage’s work does what he suggests installation art should, ‘widen critical concepts’, but he also concludes that Cage’s performance installations ‘synthesise both the futurist artists’ and Bauhaus artists’ enthusiasm for technological creativity, and the Dadaist artists’ enthusiasm for chance compositions employing any and every kind of material available to the artist.’
One of the most interesting points made by Zurbrugg in this chapter is his suggestion that when considering installation art ‘existence determines essence’. He states ‘ Its existence as an installation responding to a particular spatial or environmental context determines its specific aesthetic essence as Installation Art.’ I feel there is a connection made with this idea when he suggests further on in the chapter that the artist of an installation work is not only an artist, but also a curator. I think it is through this idea that he has addressed one of the most prominent features of Installation Art, and in doing so has begun to develop an outline of what is considered to be Installation Art.
Zurbrugg concludes that the most interesting and successful Installation Art always, in his opinion, involve movement of some sort whether it be physical or across ‘material or metaphysical space’. I think that this is true of any successful piece of art. I feel that through this chapter Zurbrugg has presented his opinions and ideas about Installation art and its origins in a scholarly manner, backing up all of his arguments with references to many important texts, exhibitions and artists to successfully clarify his point of view. I found the article very interesting and it provided me with more of an insight into the origins of Installation Art. I did feel however, that even though he provided some differing opinions in his argument, there could have been more of a discussion of such views.
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