Career in Installation Art

Bringing artworks into a three-dimensional perspective, Installation Art is about those aesthetic pieces which are curated inside an interior or exterior space. This specialised field of art and design is more site-specific and aims to install artworks in a spatial environment in order to evoke a certain mood or feeling. With a unique ability to curate an engaging environment of its own, these structures mainly refer to large-scale constructions created independent of their surroundings in order to serve a particular theme for a specific period of time. If you are aspiring to Architecture Courses, then you must consider opting for this specialised amalgamation of architecture, art and interior design. Through this blog, we aim to bring you a detailed guide on what a career in Installation Art entails, major courses and universities as well as job prospects.

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What is Installation Art?

As a striking form of visual arts, Installation Art utilises three-dimensional objects to create designs that can arouse a certain emotion or mood into the atmosphere, be it an interior or exterior space. Different from the usual and rigid sculptures, it is more involved with the freestyle form of art that often incorporates stunning visuals and virtual reality to serve a certain purpose. Installation art pieces are mainly used in entertainment spaces where the public can be mesmerised or they can put as thought-provoking structures that can address a certain issue.

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Types of Installation Art

Installation artworks have been constructed in spaces for display such as museums and galleries, as well as public and private spaces. The genre incorporates a broad range of material or media that can be utilized. The following are a few types of installation art.

• Natural or Man-Made Objects
• Painting 
• Sculpture
• Various Forms of Photography
• Live performance Art

Skills Required

Since it is a specialised art field and demands aspirants to be familiarised with the nuisances of architecture, design, painting, sculpting and many other allied disciplines, it is important to know the key prerequisites you will need to enter it. Take a look at the following list of skills that are must to build a career in Installation Art.

• Attention to Detail
• Understanding of Realistic and Constructive Drawing
• Knowledge of CAD
• Composition Skills
• High levels of creativity and imagination
• Visualization Skills
• Teamworking Skills
• Understanding of Color theory, schemes and techniques
• Familiarisation with Art Materials
• Ability to draw from life

Major Courses

For those interested in this artistic endeavour and want to furnish their skills, a varied range of full-time, part-time and professional distance learning courses which can take them places in the field of installation art. Below we have listed some of the major undergraduate and postgraduate courses in this field and it’s allied disciplines you can choose from:

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• Bachelors in Visual Arts
• Bachelors in Fine Arts
• Bachelors in Installation Art
• Bachelors in Sculpture/Installation
• BA Hons in Ceramic Design
• Masters of Arts in International Contemporary Art
• Masters of Arts in History of Art and Archeology
• Masters in Arts and Design
• Masters of Fine Arts in Arts and Humanities

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• B Des (Bachelor of Design)
• M Des (Master of Design)

Top Universities for Installation Art

With the coming up of more and more offbeat careers as a trend among youngsters, the top universities in the world have started offering a plethora of skill development and creative courses catering to their interests and skills. Enlisted are the following universities that provide the best-in-class quality education to the students with prospective programs available in both installation arts as well as fine arts and visual arts.

• RMIT University
• University of Oxford
• Stanford University
• Birmingham City University
• University of South Australia
• University of Arts London
• The Glasgow School of Arts
• Tufts University
• Rhode Island School of Design
• Tsinghua University
• School of Visual Arts
• The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• OCAD University

Colleges in India

With increasing opportunities and career options, there are many colleges in India that cater to degrees for installation art. Here are a few renowned colleges for pursuing a degree in this field. 

• Faculty of Visual Arts (Banaras Hindu University) – Varanasi
• College of Art – Delhi
• Faculty of Fine Arts (Jamia Millia Islamia) – Delhi
• Sir J J School of Art – Mumbai
• Visva-Bharati, Kala Bhavan (Institute of Fine Arts) – Santiniketan
• Department of Fine Arts (Stella Maris College) – Chennai
• Bharati Vidyapeeth (KalaMahavidyalaya) College of Fine Arts – Pune
• Department of Fine Arts (Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith) – Varanasi
• Department of Fine Arts (Kurukshetra University) – Kurukshetra
• L S Raheja School of Art – Mumbai

Employment Areas

Installation art is emerging as a prominent career field as more and more aspiring artists are planning to explore this field of study. As an installation artist, you can explore a multitude of opportunities in both the public and private sectors. From curating lavish centrepieces for parties to working on impactful sculptures for historical centres, the demand for installation masterpieces is on the high rise in the present world. Here is a list of major job areas that frequently recruit installation artists:

• Museums
• Art Galleries
• Entertainment and Recreation Centres
• Shopping Malls
• Toy Companies
• Event Management Companies
• Production Houses, among others.

Salary

Installation artists earn primarily based on their projects, skills, and popularity. The average salary of a 3D artist or an installation artist in India is ₹335,510. The pay can be increased with experience, bonus, etc. an artist can also earn by selling their work or by getting royalty money. 

Installation Art Examples

To understand the essence of installation art, it is important to study and understand the works of famous artists in this domain. Here are a few of the world’s best installation art examples. 

Jason Rhoades: My Brother / Brancuzi

Judy Chicago: The Dinner Party

Thomas Hirschhorn:  In-Between

“Destruction is difficult. It is as difficult as creation.” – Antonio Gramsci (Italian-Marxist theorist & inspiration for Hirschhorn’s In-Between)

Notable Artist

Here are a few notable installation artists and their famous works for you to gain inspiration from. 

• Christo – Wrapped Reichstag
• Damien Hirst – A Thousand Years
• Doris Salcedo – Doris Salcedo 
• Marcel Broodthaers – Un Coup de Dés Jamais N’Abolira Le Hasard
• Judy Chicago – The Dinner Party
• Kara Walker – Tableaux of Black Cut-paper Silhouettes

Thus, we hope that this blog has helped you understand what installation art is about and how you can establish a career in this field. If you are exploring the vast number of specialisations in the domain of Arts and don’t know which one to opt for, sign up for a 30-minute career counselling session with our Leverage Edu experts and we will lend you a helping hand in finding an ideal program as well as university that can equip you with the necessary knowledge and exposure to sail further towards a shining career.