“I am for an art that takes into account the direct effect of the elements as they exist from day to day apart from representation.” (Smithson, p.155)

The idea of installation as a form of art has always been a subject for various contrasting opinions and numerous theoretical approaches in order to analyse and understand its notion. Installations are generally set in temporary structures, although, in some cases, they can also be permanent. Regardless of its duration in time and space, installation art prioritises the mode by which a work of art is set up as a critical aspect of the work’s identity and concept. The fruition and display of the art-work is usually set in a way that allows the viewer to be an active spectator within the environment in which the installation takes place. Therefore, audience becomes a compulsory participant for the life of the art work.
In his art catalogue An alternative history of art: Rosenthal, Kabakov, Spivak, conceptual artist Ilya Kabakov, sees immersive installations ‘as a new art form that incorporated all the forms that had come before [] and the atmosphere created by the interaction of light and colour’ (Kabakov, p. 148). The audience is therefore bound to perceive and feel this pre-planned atmosphere and, in a way, be pointed toward a specific direction. In fact Kabakov also said that if the artist made a good use of lights, colours, sculptures etc, those who enter an installation become ‘simultaneously both a victim and a viewer, who on the one hand surveys and evaluates the installation, and on the other, follows those associations, recollections which arise in him; he is overcome by the intense atmosphere of the total illusion’ (Kabakov, p. 148). This was of great inspiration during our research for our installation The Writer since it made us deeply aware of the surrounding space and helped us make a good use of the environment. The installation was set in a way that tried to ...