Sherri Irvin

The University of Oklahoma

Installation Art and Performance

One way of understanding artworks created for performance is as sets of parameters specifying (within the context of conventions for the relevant art form) what may count as an admissible presentation.  Visual artworks have typically been understood quite differently: the work is thought of as a singular entity whose presentation is a relatively straightforward matter.  But the advent of contemporary works of installation art calls this dichotomy into question.  Installation artworks often admit of a variety of different forms for display, within a set of parameters expressed by the artist.  In this essay, I will consider the extent to which our understanding of installation artworks might be illuminated by considering them under accounts designed to accommodate works for performance, and I will explore the prospects for giving a common account of the appreciation of works in both forms.