![]() In this article, I will try to expand and explain what ephemeral art is in its different forms by giving some examples to great artists who questioned ephemerality in their work. The performing arts experienced a similar development, with new working structures within the independent sector in the 1980s and 1990s globally.Įphemeral art ushers a considerable challenge for the majority of art museums - mainly because collecting institutionalises their entire raison d’etre, expressed in their governing rules, which is to acquire work that endures into an indefinite future. ![]() In the 1960s and 70s there was an increased mobility of people and artworks, as an appearance of new institutions of art and explosion of large international events, such as biennials began to happen. Following my two year post-graduate education at Royal College of Art (London) in Curating Contemporary Art, I have always been interested in the ephemeral - the untraceable, experiential art, memories and how we translate or archive these memories after. Happenings, performances and sound sculptures were all part of ephemeral art, as were flyers and cheap mass-produced items that carried subversive messages out into the world. This shift is exemplified by artists working in the 1960s, particularly those influenced by John Cage and the Fluxus movement. The different physical state of ephemeral works represents a shift from the art object to communicative act. Ephemeral Art and Its Many FormsĮphemeral art often involves works that do not exist over a long period of time - instead, they change or decay slowly. It is fundamental to many artistic movements and forms, but perhaps the most recent examples could be found in street and graffiti art. Ephemeral art is inherently modern and contemporary. Therefore, it could be concluded that ephemeral arts are often made from materials and things that have short duration and form-holding capacity, such as sand, snow, or ice, or more often from materials that tend to decompose or change through natural processes, such as the case in Land art. Ephemeral comes from the Greek word εφήμερος - ephemeros, which literally means short-lived, lasting but a day. Materiality is probably the most easily defined. A clear definition of ephemeral art is difficult to give in a straightforward, conventional way, as both material and conceptual sides of the problem need to be addressed. There are many forms of ephemeral art, from sculpture to performance, but the term is usually used to describe a work of art that only occurs once, like a happening. ![]() However, in many ephemeral artworks something much more fundamental is involved - spectatorship, memory and documentation are questioned. When we examine ephemeral art, we can see that it is usually described as an art form that reflects a desire to dematerialize the art object in order to evade the demands of the market, or to democratize or challenge art museums and collections. Temporality and the ephemeral has always been a topic I have been interested in - perhaps this is because as human-beings we are also temporal in this universe. Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson Ever wondered what ephemeral art was? What it means when an artwork can only be experienced? ![]()
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