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Art Installation is an alternative of contemporary art that was born in the sixties to break prototypes of classic art, taking its own space and generating on it, an experience for the viewer.

¿What is Art Installation?

As we mention in the first paragraph, Art Installation belongs to contemporary art, but also receives the name of art immersive or conceptual art. In it, the artist takes his own space and intervenes, proposing a concept and using a lot of different materials like physics, sound, visuals, photography, videoart, etc. The most important objective is to awaken the senses and emotions of the viewer, make them part.

This type of artistic work needs a mounting and it is known as art ephemeral because of its temporal condition.

The origins

Somebody thinks that Art Installation was born with Marcel Duchamp, an artist that used to use daily objects, making them a different sense for exposing them in galleries and museums.

However, other people think that the origin of this movement was with the artist Allan Kampow and his environments. He took daily objects like tires, ice, toilets, etc. and used them to make artistic work in galleries. In this way, we can say that he offered an alternative art than the others.

Art Installation objectives

By the way, this artistic discipline arrived to break from classic rules. It challenged classic art that thought manual work was the one way, and offered a groundbreaking version: use daily objects and turn them into art. The point was not to contemplate artist creations, but to challenge the viewer and put them as the protagonist. Rather, the public immerse themselves in the work and feel they are a part of it, living an experience

In summary, the essence of Art Installation was to break from rules that the academy made, carry ideas, invite to the reflection, reinterpreting and giving a new meaning to the objects that the market produced.

Lara Almarcegui as a national mentor

The Spanish artist, who now is living in Rotterdam, approaches her works in awareness about the city, from waste ground to buildings, inviting us to reflect about metropolis evolution and its elements. 

Her artistic interventions are an exhausting analysis of the transformation, progress and damage to the city. She questions the urban landscape because of its remodelations, excavations, ruins, etc.

In 2013, she represented Spain in the 55th Biennale of Art in Venecia, introducing a big Art Installation in the Spanish area.

Art Installation

“Construction Rubble of Secession’s Main Hall” – Lara Almarcegui, Conceptual Art, 2010