A contemporary movement primarily driven by the avant-garde philosophy arising in the 20th century, installation art has emerged as a distinct style and era in art history. A subtle waltz between the viewer, the artist and the space, the genre itself has taken over as the most effective form of immersive storytelling. The result is taken to the next level with the inclusion of high-pressure fog effects.
| Challenge | Immerse the viewer/participant in an outdoor, interactive, multi-sensory, tactile experience. |
|---|---|
| Solution | Utilize high-pressure fog effects as an expressional conduit that serves to respond and reflect the artist’s intentional social, cultural or spacial messages. |
| Benefits | The raw and immersive properties of installation art begs for elemental inclusion. High-pressure fog effects can be used to highlight, obscure, transition and reflect the raw nature of the human condition for any outdoor art installation. |
The development and definition of immersion assume a certain level of presence, empathy, and state of mind. The creators of immersion demand that you are engaged (present in the very moment we stand within), empathic (sensing and feeling what is around you), and, lastly, to experience changes in the state of mind (perspective) after the story has ended. Much of a story is created by harnessing the elements of glamour, obscuring, masking, or exaggerating certain details, or simply casting a filter of beauty and magic across a scene. Good story is not one foot in front of the other, but rather, one foot because of another. High pressure fog effects, akin to the essences of story, are raw and elemental in nature. A literal breaking of water particles, formed by wind and sun, removed by evaporation, fog effects lend to the glamour of immersive storytelling.
As we enter into a particular space, our perspective is largely shaped by the images and experiences that lay before and through us. This obsession with the hidden and invisible perceptual space has allowed an expression of social norms and cultural mores that have cultivated our modern understanding and acceptance of installation art. Although many terms and definitions arise out of this dance with persuasion, immersion, expression and space, the foundation of installation art stands at the cornerstone of interaction between the viewer and the environment. The movement is inspired by the aspiration to create a more direct line of involvement between the viewer and the work of art. This activates the observer to connect and assemble the fragments of the surrounding environment, demanding a distinct level of participation.
The essence of high-pressure fog effects reflects the same ephemeral nature installation art gains to live within. As fog takes up the space between each station of permanence, flowing and fluttering around the edges of form, art installations flirt with the edges of formal fine arts. Rejecting the Renaissance-era definitions of art and reality, acknowledging that reality is never one way, installation art, and fog join in the same metaphorical space.
Innovation, not only in movement or style but in resources available, is changing the way we create and experience art. As installation art captivates audiences, the inclusion of materials and mediums that reflect the untamable, nonstructured essence of the avant-garde philosophy becomes an integral and fundamental process in forming environments. High-pressure fog effects speak to the collaborative, experience-driven nature of installation art, allowing for transcendence to the next level of immersion.
