Installation Art (1982-2001 CE) Flashcards
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Two linear cuts that descend into the earth
Panels contain the names of all the soldiers who died in the Vietnam War (in chronological order)
Reflective granite surface (allows the visitor to feel like they’re looking into the peaceful “other world” of the dead, and also allows the names to take precedence)
Honors the sacrifice of the dead and allows their loved ones to come to terms with their deaths
Abstract and apolitical to draw attention to individual sacrifice
Granite for the structure couldn’t be sourced from countries where people fleeing the draft found refuge
An edge in the earth (cuts into it, “an initial violence and pain that in time would heal”)
Vietnam Veterans Memorial IDs
Maya Lin
Washington D.C, United States
1982 CE
Granite
A book from the sky
Theme of words and their impact
4000 self-invented characters that can’t be decoded (no meaning conveys the importance of writing)
Pages on ground and strung up to the ceiling so it surrounds the area
Expresses that writing is essential to Chinese culture and tied with authority and morality
Shows importance of communication
Provokes questions
A book from the sky IDs
Xu Bing
1987-1991 CE
Mixed-media installation
The Gates
Rectilinear vinyl framing on steel footings
Saffron-colored panels on the top (color creates a golden ceiling creating warm shadows)
Gates match the color of the fabric
Complex testament to creating meaningful public art and how art responds to and impacts the relationship with the built environment
Criticized for its relationship with nature (even though it’s setting isn’t an untouched natural space)
Made to not last (in order to create a sense of urgency to be seen and bring a sense of love and tenderness by the fact they will not last)
The Gates IDs
NYC, US
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
1975-2005 CE
Mixed-media installation
En la Barberia no se Llora
Recreating the center of Latino male culture (the barbershop)
“No crying is allowed” (masculine attribute)
Photos of Latino men on the walls
Video screens on the headrest of the chair depict men playing, a baby being circumcised, and men crying
Purposely tacky and grimy setting
Kitsch items used as symbols of consumer culture
Originally temporary in a neighborhood building instead of in a museum
Challenges the viewer to question issues of identity, masculinity, culture, and attitudes
En la Barberia no se Llora IDs
Pepon Osorio
1994 CE
Mixed-media installation
Electronic Superhighway
Neon lighting outlining the 50 states and DC
Each state has a separate video feed
Themes associated with each state play on the state’s screen (such as the musical Oklahoma! for Oklahoma)
A camera is tuned into the spectator and its TV feed appears on one of the monitors (turns the spectator into a participant)
Allows viewers to communicate with and understand each other across traditional boundaries
Electronic Superhighway IDs
Nam June Paik
1995 Ce
Mixed-media installation (video)
The Crossing
A room-sized video installation with a two-sided screen where a pair of videos is simultaneously projected
Video #1 (a male figure walks towards the camera then stands still, then a small fire lights at his feet and eventually engulfs his entire body, yet he stays calm)
Video #2 (a male figure walks towards the camera then stands still, then a light rainfall stars until it consumes him entirely)
In both videos, the fire/water retreats and the figure vanishes at the end
Slow-motion invites a meditative and contemplative response that requires concentration and an awareness of detail
Self-annihilation (metaphor for the destruction of the ego)
Reflects raw human emotions
The Crossing IDs
Bill Viola
1996 CE
Video/sound installation
The Swing (after Fragonard)
Recreation of The Swing
The protagonist is headless (reference to the guillotine execution method)
Draws attention to the questions of excess, class, and morality from both Revolutionary times and current times
Contrasts from the frivolousness that the Rococo period promoted
Clothing is sewn from colorful and abstract fabrics from different origins (“African” Dutch style that is famous in the figures of the artist)
Fabrics are a tool to investigate ethnicity and stereotypes
The Swing (after Fragonard) IDs
Yinka Shonibare
2001 CE
Mixed-media installation
Kui Hua Zi
100 millions handmade porcelain sunflower seeds
Sunflower seeds are shared as a treat among friends
Critiques the conformity and censorship inherent in modern China
Subverts popular imager rooted in his childhood (communist propaganda that referred to Emperor Mao as the sun and the PRC as sunflowers)
Porcelain (symbol of imperial China) use comments on the history of it in China while rejecting the common negative connotations of being “Made in China”
Made by multiple different sculptures, so the objects can only be differentiated at close inspection alludes to a porcelain tradition as well as the uniformity and diffusion of modern labor that China is known for
