Avant Gardens ed. 8
Welcome to Avant Gardens, a blog/newsletter where I explore all things strange, experimental, and exciting in the arts.
Hallo! Semester is finished, and so I’ve been back to my PhD and re-reviewing literature as I work on my thesis. A beautiful and useful book I found at the library, titled Installation Art has been the trove of my Avant Gardens treasures this month (find the full text citation at the bottom of the page). Here are 5 of my favourites…
Gu De Xin - Untitled (1990)
Made from transparent plastic curtains (featuring burnt holes) and cascading down from the ceiling onto rusted industrial equipment, Gu Dexin’s 1990 installation work was held in a disused pumping station in London. I love the contrast between such delicate, translucent form juxtaposed with the harshness of the materials - I wish I could have seen this work in real life (but I wasn’t born yet).
Rose Finn-Kelcey - Untitled (1992)
As part of the 1992 Edge exhibition (Chisenhale Gallery, London), Finn-Kelcey’s installation work was made from an extractor hood and sheet-metal base, which contained the elements air, fire and water, resulting in a cloud of steam which perpetually hovered between the two surfaces.
Find more information about the work here.
Susan Trangmar - Lines of Flight (1988)
Held at the Chisenhale Gallery in London, Trangmar’s installation work was projected onto different gallery surfaces, some into the corners and others at angles.
Taken from her website…
This two part installation considers the relationship between visuality and projection in representation, both literally and metaphorically. The images are appropriated from a photojournalistic or documentary context and projected anamorphically. Part 1 shows groups of people staring at a subject beyond the frame of the image, or withholding their gaze. Part 2 projects images taken from the air of groups of people or animals seen from afar. The work explores the power of photographic representation to render both the subject of vision and the activity of the gaze. It points to the limits of vision in the withholding of a subject of the gaze within the image (part 1) and in the framing of the projected aerial image (part 2).
Hiroshi Teshigahara - Monumental Ikebana (1990)
This installation is made from a tunnel of bamboo - the artist, Teshigahara, was a Japanese master of Ikebana (flower arranging) and also an avant-garde filmmaker. His artwork were apparently quite revolutionary, changing how Ikebana could be conceived (as site-specific installations).
Cildo Meireles - Missão/Missões (1987)
This stunning installation (held in the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London) was made as commentary on the structure of the Catholic Church. Shrouded within a black veil, the work contains 86 paving stones, 800 communion wafers, 2000 bones and 600,000 metal coins.
That’s all from me. Have a great month and see you next time xxx
Images and information sourced from: Oliveira, N. de, Oxley, N., Petry, M., & Archer, M. (1997). Installation art. Thames and Hudson.
