An installation, in a general sense, may consist of many objects or of none and may either multiply, magnify or minimize these objects, likely to be in the form of an assemblage of some sort. On the other hand, an installation may consist of no objects at all but instead, a spatial experience similar to an architectural experience. The installation provides a much larger expanse for experience and participation that an individual art object can normally create.
There are four general types of installation art, determined by how the artwork interacts with its environment, and these types may crossover or converge depending on the work. Recognizing the type of installation may be very helpful to understanding meaning as meaning may change depending on how one understands the object to be interacting with the elements and participants around it or how those elements may be interacting with the art. It is important to note that there are varying degrees of dependency or interaction with the space.
Enchantments (filled-space)
Enchantments are usually a built environment, carefully devised with imaginary possibilities that remove the viewer or participant from the real world and into an imaginary world created within a space. These spaces create a psychological dimension that can sometimes be very surreal as the viewer is usually entirely immersed in this new environment and separated from what is real. Meaning is expresses through the things in the environment and their relationships to each other as well as the viewer. Usually quite theatrical, these installations play heavily upon extremes, the sense of being inside the artists mind as well as degrees of disbelief and falsity deceit.
Impersonations (filled-space)
Impersonations are duplications of real life situations in such a way that they elaborate on a specific condition or place emphasis on something in real life by placing it out of context. They may or may not be site-specific, depending on location. These installations often question the concept of art because it becomes so much just a regular object or life experience and not something special. The visitor may use the space very much as if it is a normal life situation. The artwork may not cross the boundary of art and the real world, unlike an enchantment, and the viewer may not even realized that he or she is experiencing art. Impersonations may feel similar to a dream in that they are removed from the real world but still connected to the everyday. They cause the participant to question what is real and what is not.
Interventions (site-specific)
Interventions employ the medium of installation to investigate the character of a location at which it exists. The installation may either be in a positive or critical position but is most often in a position to critique to locale. It directly addresses the literal surroundings or environment. Generally these are locations in need of physical or ideological renovation. A great analogy was to compare an intervention installation as an unwelcome house guest…art that refuses to abide by conventional practices or to necessarily agree with the environment in which it lives. The viewer lives in the space with the art installation, and the artwork may have such an influence on its environment that it may even affect the behavior or movement of participants.
“Can art get down from its pedestal and rise to street level?” –Daniel Buren
Rapprochements (site-specific)
On the other hand, rapprochements are much “friendlier” to their locations than interventions. These works are extremely site-specific and are generally unified with their locations so much so that they may even disappear. The art manifests in the space itself, becoming part of the space. The viewer also physically cohabits with the artwork but in real time, “not in a historical, analytical or imaginative realm.” They too become part of the space, aware of their own body and their own senses and how they may be involved. This type of installation is best compared to architecture which requires personal involvement and experience to have some understanding of it.
Resources
Rosenthal, M. (2003). Understanding Installation Art, from Duchamp to Holzer. Prestel, Munich, Berlin, London, New York.
Re-installing Rural 