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Installation

© Joe Jeskiewicz

One of the most fascinating kinds of art that I think we see in a museum or special exhibit is installation art. While this is also the most confusing and weird at times, its way of interacting with us or way of forcing us to interact with it, allows it to more firmly embed it self in our mind.

One of the early installation pieces that comes to mind is that of a painting of a man's two boys on a stairwell. The artist's name escapes me, but the installation does not. It was down life size on the artist's wall. And to the bottom of the painting was fastened the bottom portion of a set of steps to make it appear all the more real.

Beyond that I think of the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, PA. This is not a mattress factory, but rather a collection of installation pieces spread throughout the building and even outside the building. Inside I've seen pieces that are reminiscent of an apology for war complete with a 50 gallon drum of ketchup. A tunnel that closes in on you as you walk into it, not for the claustrophobic. And even scores of Styrofoam heads in a room in various states of decay.

For installations I also think of the Carnegie Museum of Art where I think I saw 100 resin blocks of various colors are similar in size and shape, an oversize table and chairs, and coffins of various sizes. I think I also saw a drain cover mounted in the floor with some water down inside there and I think maybe a mirror where you could see yourself quite clearing looking back up at you.

http://www.mattress.org/ , follow this link in order to find the Mattress Factory. It's been a while since I've been to either the Mattress Factory or the Carnegie but I know they still have great art.

One important aspect of any of these piece however is that you are forced to confront them. You get the opportunity to walk around and look at the piece from various angles. They are made for the room they are in and unlike sculpture, can't just be placed anywhere. Installation pieces are made to be in an environment, and to be walked through and around. They are made to make us look at ourselves and how we feel about being surrounded in or apart of the art.

While pondering installations I began to think of my own ideas for installation pieces. (Museums if you are reading this give it a thought). My idea for an installation begins with a number of picture frames of various sizes and shapes. The kind that can be bought at any frame store. Each one would probably have to be purchased in duplicate and glued back to back. Then, in a room, down the center of the room they are to be suspended by steel cabled from the ceiling and secured to the floor and to each other in straight level lines.