Minds On
Let’s get started!
Explore the following images. What do you notice about these art pieces?
Infinity Mirrored Room-Love Forever by Yayoi Kusama, 1966/1994
Obliteration Room by Yayoi Kusama, 2012
ᐁᑳᐃᐧᔭ ᐊᑲᔭᓯᒧ (êkâwiya akayasimo: don’t you dare speak english) by Joi T. Arcand, 2017
ē-kī-nōhtē-itakot opwātisimowiskwēw (she used to want to be a fancy dancer) by Joi T. Arcand, 2019
Rain Room by Random International, 2012
Image 1: Infinity Mirrored Room-Love Forever, Yayoi Kusama.
There is a room that is hexagon in shape and mirrored on all sides. There are many different coloured lights on the ceiling. On either side of the room, there are two square frames or peepholes. When the viewer looks into one window, they can see themselves and the other viewer repeated infinitely.
Image 2: Obliteration Room, Yayoi Kusama.
There is a living room painted white. There are three lamps hanging from the ceiling. A table and chairs are in the foreground. There are colourful dot stickers applied randomly throughout the room. There are three children and an adult placing stickers on the furniture.
Image 3: ᐁᑳᐃᐧᔭ ᐊᑲᔭᓯᒧ (êkâwiya akayasimo: don’t you dare speak english), Joi T Arcand.
There is a cement flight of stairs photographed from below, with wooden handrails and letters in a foreign language written on the stairs.
Image 4: ē-kī-nōhtē-itakot opwātisimowiskwēw (she used to want to be a fancy dancer), Joi T. Arcand.
Purple neon letters in the Cree language with a dark purple background.
Image 5: Rain Room, Random International.
A figure is standing in a dark room lit by a few large lights. There is water falling from the ceiling like a steady rain. The light allows the viewer to see the drops of water clearly. There are 3-D sensors in the ceiling that control the water. When they sense movement in the room, the water is turned off in the area surrounding the figure.
Student Success
Think-Pair-Share
- What do you notice about these art pieces?
- How is this art similar and different to other forms of art that you have learned about?
Record your ideas on paper, digitally, or as an audio recording.
Share your ideas with a partner, if possible.
Note to teachers: See your teacher guide for collaboration tools, ideas and suggestions.
Press ‘Answer’ to access a possible answer to these questions.
These art pieces are different from sculptures or paintings which are meant to be experienced from a distance. It appears as if someone can walk into and/or around the art. They are not traditional, but they are intentional.
Action
Get ready, get set…
What is installation art?
The images you explored in the Minds On are all examples of installation art.
Installation art describes large-scale, site-specific works of art. They are three-dimensional and created with a variety of mixed media, including paint, sculpture, found and natural objects, photographs, sound and audio, and media technology.
Installation art often involves a sensory experience.
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
- In the examples you explored in the Minds On, what sense could be used to experience the artwork?
- How is the audience invited to experience the art pieces in an active way?
Press ‘Sample Answer’ to access a possible response to these questions.
There are opportunities to observe, touch and feel in the art installations explored. The audience is invited to climb up the stairs, walk into the room, observe through a peephole, and move underneath a rainfall.
Transforming space
Many artists who create installations are interested in creating new relationships between the viewer and the art. Traditionally, art is enjoyed on the walls of a gallery or museum from a distance. The audience is not allowed to touch any of the exhibits or artworks.
Installation art challenges the traditional definition of what is considered “art” as something that is separate from the audience. Instead, the audience is invited to become part of the artwork and manipulate or interact with the art in an engaging way. This transformation of space is what makes art installation so unique.
The use of digital technology has allowed the audience to engage with installation art in new ways. Contemporary artists are using virtual reality and digital technology to create interactive experiences for the audience.
Installation art challenges traditional forms of art by reimagining the relationship between artist, art, and audience. Sometimes, the installation art is created together when the audience can add or modify the materials used.
Press the following tabs to explore some examples of collaborations between artists, art, and viewer.
In the Minds On, you explored art installations created by Random International. Random International is a group of artists who work together in Berlin and London. Many of their art installations explore the relationship between humans and machines. These artists use technology to create experiences that involve the audience and engage the senses.
The Rain Room is an art installation that includes a continuous shower of rain that is falling from the ceiling. Installed into the ceiling are 3-D sensors that control the water. When they sense movement in the room, the water is turned off in the area surrounding the figure. This allows the audience to stand in the center of a rainfall without getting wet.
A figure is standing in a dark room lit by a few large lights. There is water falling from the ceiling like a steady rain. The light allows the viewer to see the drops of water clearly. There are 3-D sensors in the ceiling that control the water. When they sense movement in the room, the water is turned off in the area surrounding the figure.
Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist. She has been creating art since the 1960’s using sculpture, art installations, paintings, poetry and performance art. Yayoi Kusama and is now recognized internationally for her unique artistic style. She is well known for her hypnotic repetitions of polka dots, and infinity mirror installations. Her work is playful, colourful, accessible, and exciting.
Yayoi Kasuma has been very open about her early experiences involving her mental health and the role that art has played in helping her to achieve a healthy balance in her life. Yayoi Kasuma has described her creative process as “art medicine” and continues to find harmony and unity through the infinite repetition of colour and shapes.
Yayoi Kasuma is unique because her identity is interconnected with her art. She is often photographed wearing bright colours and polka dots that imitate her paintings and installations.
A figure is standing in a dark room lit by a few large lights. There is water falling from the ceiling like a steady rain. The light allows the viewer to see the drops of water clearly. There are 3-D sensors in the ceiling that control the water. When they sense movement in the room, the water is turned off in the area surrounding the figure.
The power of art
Yayoi Kusama’s collaborative art installation titled Obliteration Room begins as a white, blank living room filled with furniture. The audience is invited to use multi-coloured dot stickers to place anywhere they choose in the room. After a few weeks, the space is transformed from a blank canvas into a galaxy of colourful dots everywhere.
Access this video of “The Obliteration Room” from the Tate Modern Gallery in 2002.
Explore this video documentary about Yayoi Kusama called “Infinity”. In this clip, there are examples of different art installations and a comment about how her work transforms space.
In the Minds On, you explored an art installation called “Infinity Room” by Yayoi Kusama. This room is filled with mirrors that allow the audience to notice themselves and another person repeated endlessly.
Installation art can blur the lines between art, artist, and audience. In this “Infinity Room” the audience literally becomes part of the art, as their reflection is repeated in the mirrors.
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
What kind of message or idea do you think Yayoi Kasuma might be conveying about the role of the artist and the art?
Press ‘Answer’ to access a sample answer to this question.
Art is a powerful way to express who we are and where we are from. When an artist creates, it is difficult to separate identity and community from the art. Yayoi Kasuma becomes the art and encourages the audience to experience and become the art as well.
Explore this documentary about Yayoi Kusama called “Infinity,” in which Yayoi Kusama shares her belief that art has the power to create social change.
“I hope that the power of art can make the world more peaceful.”
– Yayoi Kusama, TVO documentary
Student Success
Think-Pair-Share
Do you think that art has the power to make change? Why or why not?
Record your ideas on paper, digitally or as an audio recording.
Share your ideas with a partner, if possible.
Note to teachers: See your teacher guide for collaboration tools, ideas and suggestions.
Building communities
Let’s learn about some contemporary artists who are creating installation art to build communities and honour their personal and cultural identities.
Jessica Canard
Jessica Canard is a multi-media artist, with a focus on mural making and collaborating with others to make art. They are a Two-Spirit Anishinaabe from Sakeeng First Nation and are using art to build communities and reconcile relationships to land. Two-Spirit is used by some Indigenous people to describe their gender, sexual and spiritual identity.
Connecting Communities is a large mural that was created in collaboration with members of the public in Winnipeg.
Jessica Canard wanted to make this art accessible to as many people as possible, so she made hand-crafted stamps and invited everyone to use a paint roller to transfer the image onto several panels that were assembled into a large mural.
Connecting Communities, by Jessica Canard
This image shows a group of people in Winnipeg, Manitoba exploring a mural created by Ojibwe artis Jessica Canard. This piece is called Connecting Communities. The mural is created using hand-carved stamps, made by Canard, that people in the community added to the mural. She used the Seven Sacred Teachings animals and images that represent medicinal plants. These include the eagle, the turtle, the buffalo, the sasquatch, the wolf, the bear, and the beaver. The colours used are blues, greens and white.
Jessica Canard chose images for the mural that connected the art to her identity and community. She used images of animals from the Seven Sacred Teachings, which is significant to Ojibwe, Cree and Métis people from Treaty 1, as well as images of plant medicines.
Press the following tab to access more information about Seven Sacred Teachings.
The Seven Sacred Teachings or also known as the Seven Grandfather Teachings are meant as a guide for an individual’s life in how they respect others, the earth, and the animals in order to live a good life. The animals associated with each teaching may vary community to community based on the local environment.
Jessica Canard was inspired to use the Seven Sacred Teachings in her work and outlined them as: love (the eagle), truth (the turtle), respect (the buffalo), honesty (the sasquatch), humility (the wolf), courage (the bear), and wisdom (the beaver).
Representation matters
When people experience their culture and identity represented in public spaces, it helps to create a feeling of inclusion and belonging. It is important to create space for people to represent themselves through art and tell their own stories.
Historically, some identities have been represented in public spaces, including galleries and museums more than others. When communities are not represented in public spaces, this creates a feeling of exclusion or not being valued.
Indigenous peoples had rich and vibrant cultures, knowledges, traditions and art forms prior to contact. However, when Europeans began settling on Indigenous lands, they began the process of colonization.
Press the following tab to access more information about colonization.
Colonization is the act of a foreign population taking control of a land that is already inhabited by Indigenous peoples with the aim of creating a colony that mimics the customs, traditions, and way of life associated with the colonizer’s homeland. As settlers began taking control of lands, they also sought to assimilate Indigenous peoples into their European and Christian way of life.
In 1876, The Indian Act was passed that outlined First Nations governance, lands, and identities. It also banned gatherings, celebrations, and traditional practices. However, these laws also targeted Inuit and Métis peoples as well. The Indian Act went on to mandate education and through the Residential School System, the government and churches formed a partnership that was meant to further assimilate First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and their respective cultural practices and knowledges. For over a century, Indigenous peoples were not allowed to wear their regalia, speak their languages, practice their cultural traditions, or gather in groups to celebrate, mourn, heal, or have fun together.
To Europeans, colonization was the way towards “progress”, while for Indigenous peoples, it was a violent and destructive force that divided communities, lands, and families and the effects of colonization continue to impact First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities today. However, it is important to acknowledge that Indigenous people continue to resist and actively reclaim what colonization tried to take away.
As part of her artist statement, Jessica Canard explains how the art she creates connects to the collective history that Indigenous peoples have experienced but also aims to reclaim her identity and community:
“Themes that come up in my work are influenced by the disconnect I have from my culture due to the process of colonization and how I am trying to reclaim that part of my identity. I don’t see myself reflected in the world around
me and creating art is my way of making sure that I am represented, that my culture, and my communities are represented too. I also use art as a tool for self growth/reflection, to engage the public, and build stronger
relationships between communities and their members.”
– Jessica Canard
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
- How might art installations help to build community?
- Why is it important to represent diverse identities and communities in public spaces?
- Why is it important for Indigenous peoples to have spaces to create conversations around colonization and reclamation with Canadians?
Reclaiming language
Joi Arcand
Joi T. Arcand is a Cree artist from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan. She uses photography, graphic design and digital collage in her work. Her work explores the relationship between language and identity. Joi Arcand uses Cree language and syllabics in her work to highlight the importance of revitalizing Indigenous languages, especially in public spaces.
Language is an important part of identity. As you learned, the Indian Act and the Residential School System aimed to eliminate Indigenous languages as part of the process of assimilation and colonization. Children were removed from their homes, separated from their families and cultures and were not allowed to speak their traditional languages at residential or day schools. As part of reconciliation and healing, many Indigenous communities are reconnecting and reclaiming their traditional languages. It is important to acknowledge this history and to honour and respect the first languages of this land today.
ᓂᓄᐦᑌ ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐊᐧᐣ (ninohtê nêhiyawan: I want to speak cree) by Joi T. Arcand, 2017
ᐁᑳᐃᐧᔭ ᐊᑲᔭᓯᒧ (êkâwiya akayasimo: don’t you dare speak english) by Joi T. Arcand, 2017
Student Success
Think-Pair-Share
- Where do you think this installation might be located?
- What do you think Joi Arcand wants the audience to consider as they use the stairs?
- Why is it important to reclaim and revitalize Indigenous languages?
Record your ideas using a method of your choice.
Share your ideas with a partner, if possible.
Note to teachers: See your teacher guide for collaboration tools, ideas and suggestions.
Press ‘Answer’ to access a sample response.
In the past, many Indigenous communities were told that they could not speak their language, as part of colonization. Joi Arcand might be asking the audience to consider how it would feel if they were told that they could not speak English. It appears that this installation is in a museum or a gallery, which is a public space that was not always inclusive of contemporary Indigenous art.
Nuit Blanche
Nuit Blanche is a contemporary arts festival held at night in cities across Canada. It often includes art installations that engage the audience in interactive and sensory experiences.
Check out this video filmed in Toronto in 2019. It includes many different examples of art installations
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
In this video, there are several examples of Installation Art that were created for Nuit Blanche in Toronto in 2019.
- What did you notice about where the installations were located, and the materials that were used?
- How did the audience interact with or collaborate to create the art?
- What kind of messages or ideas were being conveyed by the artist?
Record your ideas using a method of your choice. Consider adding your answers to your portfolio.
Press ‘Answer’ to access a possible response to these questions.
The Campbell House is a historic building in Toronto. It was lit up with colourful neon lights. The audience walked through the different rooms to experience the past and present in contrasting ways.
In the Drawing Bar, the audience was invited to create their own drawings to hang in the space. These drawings were created using watercolour or ink and recorded on pages of a book.
Project Gunk is an installation about waste in the city. A collection of items are painted white and organized in creative ways. It encourages the audience to think about the value of what is thrown away.
Consolidation
Putting it all together!
As we have learned, installation artists create art to express their ideas, emotions and identities. These interactive installations invite the audience to think about their own connections to identity and community, as they experience the art.
Now it’s time to use what you have learned about installation art to create your own!
Imagine that you have been invited to create a site-specific art installation for Nuit Blanche. The space that you create can express something about your identity and/or community or be about a topic/theme that is important to you. It must also include an interactive experience for the audience.
Identity and belonging
Identity refers to who someone is, and what makes them unique and special. Everyone has the right to be proud of their identity.
There are many ways that someone might describe their personal identity.
The following list offers some examples and ideas, which is not limited to:
- Personality traits: a pattern of characteristics of someone’s thoughts, behaviours, and feelings.
- Interests and talents: activities someone enjoys.
- Aspirations: what someone wants to accomplish throughout their life
- Race: a fluid concept that is used to describe people based on their inherited physical characteristics and ancestral background.
- Culture: the behaviour associated with human societies, connected to the beliefs, arts, knowledge, customs and laws of a particular people, nation or group.
- Religion or spirituality: a set of beliefs and practices, usually focused on how people live their lives
- Age: the length of time that a person has existed.
Connections with culture, land, traditions, and languages are important parts of personal and cultural identities. Personal identities can also include one’s values, attributes, personality, interests, hobbies. Identities are diverse and cultural.
Intersectionality
Dr. Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality” to describe the ways that a person’s identities are interconnected and can intersect and overlap. Intersectionality also refers to how our identities might impact experiences of feeling included or excluded.
Identities are fluid and can change over time. It is always important to honour your own and other’s identities with respect.
Pause and Reflect
Pause and reflect
This personal reflection might help you to plan your art piece. Think about your own identity. Use the following Mind Map template to create a web or constellation that describes who you are. Put your name in the center and use intersecting lines to explore your personal and cultural identity.
Complete the Mind Map in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document. If you would like, you can use speech-to-text or audio recording tools to record your thoughts.
Installation Art
Materials Needed
Materials needed
Possible materials you might need for this learning activity:
- a blank sheet of paper or an art journal
- drawing materials such as pencils or crayons
- an electronic tablet for drawing
- any other art materials you like to use
Student Success
Exploring digital creation options
When you are considering digital creation options, explore the variety of digital applications available!
Always be sure to do your safety checks before you do an activity.
Before you begin, check:
Safety
Before you begin:
Now it’s your turn to create! Press the following tabs to check out a variety of methods to create your art. Choose one of the following options to create your art installation. Plan and design your installation in your Art Portfolio, or another method of your choice.
Option 1: Description
Describe the art installation using an audio, visual or written recording.
When planning your art, consider the following:
Planning my art
Option 2: Digital creation
Create a 3-D art installation, using a digital application of your choice.
When planning your art, consider the following:
Planning my art
Option 3: Drawing
Draw the plan and design for your art installation. When planning your art, consider the following:
Planning my art
Portfolio
Track your progress
If possible, share your work with a partner. If you have a portfolio, you can put your art there to track your progress over time.
Reflection
As you read the following descriptions, select the one that best describes your current understanding of the learning in this activity. Press the corresponding button once you have made your choice.
I feel...
Now, expand on your ideas by recording your thoughts using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.
When you review your notes on this learning activity later, reflect on whether you would select a different description based on your further review of the material in this learning activity.