6.8.21 Sculpture, ensemble, environment, installation or assemblage?
I've been trying to categorise my proposed installation of sculptural parts. I called Parts of me, 2020 an assemblage but Tate's definition of an assemblage, I feel, falls short of my aspiration:
'Assemblage is art that is made by assembling disparate elements – often everyday objects – scavenged by the artist or bought specially.' (Tate, no date)
Each sculpture in my selection is hand made using labour intensive, physical processes. Nothing is scavenged or bought readymade.
Is it an installation? Tate' definition is:
'The term installation art is used to describe large-scale, mixed-media constructions, often designed for a specific place or for a temporary period of time'. (Tate, no date)
I definitely imagine it installed, as in filling a space. It's large scale, mixed media, site responsive, variable and each iteration is temporary, so I think it will be an installation. I hope, however that it will also be an environment
'An alternative term for installation art; environments are mixed-media constructions or assemblages usually designed for a specific place and for a temporary period of time... The term environments was first used by artist Allan Kaprow in 1958 to describe his own large-scale artworks which transformed interior spaces.' (Tate, no date)
I feel that this describes my proposed work most fully so far, but what about Penelope Curtis' ensembles?
Ensemble
- noun
an assemblage of parts or details (as in a work of art) considered as forming a whole
accumulation, aggregation, assemblage, collection
several things grouped together or considered as a whole
Curtis, P. (2017) Sculpture: open closed horizontal vertical New Haven and London: Yale University Press
Kultermann, U. (1968) The new sculpture; environments and assemblages Thames and Hudson: London
Tate (no date) Assemblage Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/assemblage , (Accessed: 25 January 2021)
Tate (no date) Installation art, Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/i/installation-art (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Tate (no date) Environments Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/e/environments (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Vocabulary.com (no date) Ensemble Available at: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ensemble (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Kultermann, U. (1968) The new sculpture; environments and assemblages Thames and Hudson: London
Tate (no date) Assemblage Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/assemblage , (Accessed: 25 January 2021)
Tate (no date) Installation art, Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/i/installation-art (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Tate (no date) Environments Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/e/environments (Accessed: 6 April 2021)
Vocabulary.com (no date) Ensemble Available at: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ensemble (Accessed: 6 April 2021)