Sculpture or Installation





Oval with Points, (1968-1970), Henry Moore Foundation



I have this idea to create a piece for my Lancaster exhibition that will compliment my paintings, fulfil my desire to break away from my traditional ways of working and put into practice some of the techniques I explored whilst at university. I am not sure whether you would call the piece a sculpture or an installation and I will have to explore the differences between the two. I suppose an installation is specific to the exhibition site and would have some way of interacting with the viewer whereas a sculpture could be moved to any location and deliver the same viewing experience.

So are Henry Moore's large casts sculptures or installations? Are they not site specific works that the viewer interacts with, observing the landscape through the voids Moore placed in his work or wondering at the scale and smoothness of curve in the natural light? I don't think I have heard Moore called an installation artist though.

Follow this link for a good discussion on Installation Art by London based art critic and art historian Claire Bishop http://www.tate.org.uk/tateetc/issue3/butisitinstallationart.htm . I deduce from this that true installation work requires viewer interaction or active participation so the piece has 'relational aesthetics' according to cultural critic Nicolas Bourriaud. I also deduce that the trend is for the installation to alter perception or cause friction between the viewer and their surroundings which perhaps sets it apart from what sculptures can achieve.

So what of my piece? I have collected interesting pieces of wood from the beach and forrest and piled them in the garden. Now I am waiting for the wood to talk to me. I have some idea of what I want and I know where the piece will be placed in the exhibition. The piece will interact with the viewer as the natural light from a window it will be placed in front of will fall through acetate coloured with acrylic inks. The time of day and the weather conditions will alter the viewing experience each time. A sculptural installation perhaps?

I am considering putting an entry into this year's Sculpture By The Sea event in Australia.

https://picasaweb.google.com/118338774493048868745/SculptureByTheSeaCottesloe2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCNb-vr39j7fPVA# but I think I might be trying to run before I can walk.