Site-Specific Installation: Intervention

Installation as an art form has been seen to move away from traditional and conventional themes and practices. There are endless possibilities of mediums artists can use. This form has the ability to address the literal surroundings of the work much more than others. Majority of the works are placed in sites specifically chosen for one reason or another- to enhance meaning, make a statement, etc. Museums are often used as a location for installation works. It can be interpreted that the use of the museum as the site and the art itself can become totems for the larger framework of society that surround it. Such an interpretation can show how installations can become a tool of inquiry for our world and this is achieved through the conscious choice to place the installation. Installations also engage the audience and have the ability to create confusion about the nature a space, as shown in some of Marcel Duchamp's installations. For example, he made the viewers have to move awkwardly around the string in the space if they wished to fully experience the piece. Installations have, in some cases, involved as an extension beyond the painting and canvas to the surrounding wall and the room in which it is placed. A strong sense that the viewer co-habits the space that holds the art can be achieved through installations. Often they have interactive elements, with the chosen space having the ability to enhance what the artist is trying to communicate. Installation work is able to emphasis the physical dimensions of a space rather than the aesthetic function.