Saturday, 21 February 2026

Roots and Transformations: Installation Art in Contemporary Sculpture | Chapter 6 | New Ideas Concerning Arts and Social Studies Vol. 6

 

In the 20th and 21st centuries, concepts of durability, control over physical substance, and spatial existence have undergone a remarkable change. In contrast to classical sculpture, which emphasises qualities such as resilience, expert artistry, and symbolism, modern approaches have expanded the definition of sculpture to include immersive and participatory perspectives.

 

By combining media such as sculpture, sound, light, video, and performance to create a place-specific atmosphere, installation art has emerged as a significant force of transformation. In comparison to static, object-centric works, the installation gives stress on spatial dynamics, aspects of temporality and audience interaction, which facilitates the emergence of meaning through personal experience and contextual involvement.

 

The historical evolution of installation art started with early avant-garde efforts, including Marcel Duchamp's readymades, Dadaism, Surrealism, and constructivism, which critically analysed well-known aesthetic norms, material disruption, and participation of the observers. The innovation of many persons, notably Allan Kaprow's Happenings and Yayoi Kusama's immersive installations, laid the foundation of the process with audience engagement and perceptual alteration.

 

Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty and Joseph Beuys' ecological initiatives first started installation art as a vehicle for social, political, and environmental discussion and ecological discourse. The conceptual richness and cultural implications of installation art utilising both traditional and innovative materials to confront urgent societal and environmental issues received a lot of attention from notable artists Olafur Eliasson, Anish Kapoor, Ai Weiwei, as well as Indian practitioners. The scale, conceptual richness, and cultural implications of installation art.

 

Installation art entails phenomenology, relational aesthetics, and participatory and immersive characteristics. This increases the significance of embodied perception, social interaction, and contextual meaning, eg, Postmodern and deconstructive methodologies further promote a plurality of interpretations, thereby increasing audience involvement.

 

This chapter highlights a case study of an environment-oriented installation using the available roots, woods and natural materials in the vicinity of the university with emphasis on sustainability, protection of cultural heritage, and audience engagement. The study elucidates the several ways in which contemporary installation art has value in aesthetic and ethical aspects, which in turn establishes a link between traditional knowledge and ecological consciousness.

 

 

Author(s) Details

Ratan Kanwar
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, Bathinda, India.

 

Please see the book here :- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/nicass/v6/6434

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