Installation Art
Installation Art originated in Europe and America during the late 50's
and early 60's as a response to conventional art forms of the twentieth
century. It introduced a new type of response to sculpture wherein the
viewer no longer came to a gallery to see an object, but instead
received the entire experience of a specific space or site as the artwork
itself. Installation Art changed the traditional approaches to art.
Scale and conceptual ideas of art were reinforced, as entire rooms and
spaces became the total experience.
Installation Art started in the west and became very popular as an
international artistic practice in the 80's and 90's. Southeast Asian
artists came into contact with the global community and gained access to
installation art from the west. It opened up traditional Southeast Asian
history, facilitating the connection to the lineage in the rich
indigenous cultural tradition that existed in temples, shrines and customs.
Installation Art creates a new possibility for Southeast Asian artists
to reassess local sources, blending art and life to reconfigure social
and cultural interventions in the artistic process. Since the idea of
Installation Art was introduced to Southeast Asia, it has had a
profound influence on the artists' attraction to their own culture as it
allows new freedom in the expression with indigenous materials and concepts.
As a result, Installation Art sprung up in South East Asia and became a
dominant art form within the last decade.
Installation Art as an artistic practice is quite suitable to the
social climate of the day. It allows artists to easily draw on indigenous
cultural sources, social rituals and routines and include them in their
artwork. Their subject matter, contexts and ideologies were derived
from local sources and local materials that were already familiar from the
social life and cultural practices of the day.
Artists frequently expressed visual environments, politics, history,
religion and ideas of nationalism, colonialism, neo-colonialism,
community, and social cultural identity in their work. Southeast Asian artists
developed their own new vocabularies, narratives and language of social
interaction. Therefore, we agree that contemporary Southeast Asian
installation art not only works as a "counter-assertion to the cultural
authority of the West, but as a legitimate artistic form". (P110)
South East Asia artists working on installation art included not only
gallery spaces, but also sites specific; many of them found excitement
in combining different materials and working collaboratively. As
result, they often included the elements of performance and interactivities
in the installation. Performance associated with Southeast Asian
installation art had a significant function in acting out the traditional
sense of community manifestations and social interactions that were very
different from the west. It is an important art form of cultural and
social force for artists to communicate with their audiences.
This art seems particularly suitable to Southeast Asian culture because
it provides opportunities for groups to be included in the artwork
itself. Whereas much of Western art is individualistic and independently
executed, Southeast
Asia artists naturally emphasized community participation through
social interaction. Installation art is able to highlight unique aspects of
culture, which are inherently oral or expressive in nature.
In the present age of globalization and cultural interdependence,
installation art has been a welcome bridge preserving significant cultural
elements of South East Asia while presenting and exchanging them with
other global artists. International exposure is easily promoted and
executed in the fast-paced art arena. It is an indication of
self-confidence because South East Asian artists are seeking to present their own
indigenous cultures in an era where there is still significant dependence
on European cultures.
Museum exposure in Europe, Japan, and Australia has been key in
presenting South East Asian Installation art. Though much of the art is seen
out of its cultural context, it is continuing to gain quite a
reputation and high exposure rate through this international network.
Southeast Asian artists have grown in confidence over the past decade
as their work has been exposed to the public and affirmed by
cross-cultural critics. Installation Art has been a door to rediscovering many
aspects of cultural identity and has led to the sharing of these treasures
with the rest of the world. Contemporary art forms will undoubtedly
continue to draw upon the indigenous ties that Installation Art has so
poignantly established
Ervington, Julie. "Five Elements." Art and Asia Pacific.
pp. 110-115.
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