Understanding Installation Art : From Duchamp to Holzer

Citing examples as diverse as the Sistine Chapel, Colonial Williamsburg, Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty" and Vito Acconti's "Seedbed" as well as works by Richard Serra, Rebecca Horn, Claes Oldenburg, Jenny Holzer and Bruce Nauman, the author defines installation art as a medium with broad possibilities for expression, universal appreciation and democratization. He creates a new taxonomy of his subject, identifying four specific forms - enchantments, impersonations, interventions and rapprochements - and shows how installation art is steering the concept of museums and galleries in new and exciting directions. Most importantly he helps readers feel more comfortable with site-specific art, a genre that dates back to man's earliest artistic expression.