Insite | Outsite: The perpetuation of site-specific installation artworks in museums

The notion of ‘site-specificity’ relates to artworks that are produced for specific locations and often for temporary exhibitions. As art history has shown, since the 1990s a trend emerges to collect site-specific installation artworks for museum collections, which means they are being preserved and relocated. The extended lifespan of site-specific installations raises profound questions regarding the intended spatial configuration and its transformation over time. Drawing on a theory of space by the social-geographer Henri Lefebvre (1991 [1974), my research project develops a conceptual model for the identification of various functions establishing the artwork’s site-specific network. This model applies to three spatial dimensions –physical, social and symbolic – and allows for a comparison between different manifestations of one and the same work of art. A second line of thought starts from the premise that site-specific installations are performative, since each manifestation establishes a new connection between the artwork and the site. Because of similarities with other kinds of contemporary art (time-based media installations, performance art) the model incorporates relevant notions derived from conservation and performance studies. In particular the proposition to follow the actors and their influence on the ‘performance’ of the artwork, and the notion of the script as a tool for deciphering underlying motives in decision-making, proved to be productive. The conceptual model has been tried out on a number of case studies of site-specific installations including, among others, works from Richard Serra, Ernesto Neto, Jason Rhoades and Flying City. The analyses of those case studies bring to light the dilemma’s museums are confronted with when the artwork’s site-specificity needs to be redefined, often without the presence of the artist. Furthermore, they show a significant impact of both ‘social production spaces’ and the museum’s ‘representational space’ on modifications of the physical configuration and the way in which site-specific art is experienced. The conceptual model and the outcomes of the case studies open up a toolbox for custodians and a theoretical framework on which ground decisions can be made and well-argued scenarios can be developed for staging site-specific installation artworks in the future