The Tripartite Constructive Language in Ian Kiaer’s Art Practice
Contemporary art presents an interdisciplinary structure that incorporates diverse perspectives and techniques. In this context, the article aims to examine productions that are connected to the space through objects incorporated into the artwork, without severing their connection with the wall surface, thereby coexisting with the space. The scope of the research is limited to prominent works from the “Endnote: Tooth” project by British artist Ian Kiaer, produced between 2005 and the present, which focus on the tripartite construct of surface, object, and space. In Kiaer’s works, which begin on the wall surface and extend into the space through various found objects, it is observed that fragile and delicate materials, such as inflatable balloons, are used. These multiApart installations open up an alternative space between painting and sculpture as they extend from the wall into the environment, allowing the space to be actively integrated into the work and transforming the space itself into the painting. Additionally, Kiaer frequently references Frederick Kiesler’s concept of the “Endless House” in his practice. In the research, a literature review and interpretive methods of qualitative research were employed, drawing on sources from the websites of galleries representing Kiaer, interviews with the artist, and writings from international biennials and exhibitions.
Ian Kiaer’in Sanat Pratiğinde Üçlü Kurgusal Dil
Günümüz sanatı, farklı bakış açıları ve tekniklerin bir arada bulunduğu disiplinler arası bir yapı sunmaktadır. Çeşitli nesnelerle ve mekânla kurulan ilişki, çoklu araçlarla üretim, alternatif ve hibrit olma son dönem yapıtlarında öne çıkan özelliklerdendir. Sanat eseri, nesne ve mekân arasında gerçekleşen bu organik ilişkide, her yapıtın kendine özgü bir şekilde ve kendi anlam dinamiği dâhilinde çeşitli nesnelere ve mekâna eklemlendiği görülmektedir. Bu bağlamda makalede, duvar yüzeyi ile bağlantısını koparmayarak bünyesine kattığı nesneler aracılığıyla mekâna bağlanan ve mekân ile var olan üretimlerin incelenmesi hedeflenmiştir. Araştırmanın kapsamı, İngiliz sanatçı Ian Kiaer’ın 2005 yılından günümüze ürettiği “Endnote: Tooth” projesinden öne çıkan ve yüzey, nesne, mekân arasında gelişen üçlü kurgu anlayışındaki üretimleri ile sınırlandırılmıştır. Sanatçının duvar yüzeyinde başlayan ve çeşitli buluntu nesnelerle mekâna yayılan üretimlerinde balon gibi şişirilebilir, kırılgan ve hassas yapıdaki maddeler kullanıldığı görülmüştür. Duvardan mekâna yayılarak resim ve heykel arasında alternatif bir alan açan bu büyük boyutlu yerleştirme çalışmalarında mekânın aktif olarak resme dâhil olduğu ve mekânın resme dönüştüğü gözlemA lenmiştir. Ayrıca, Kiaer’in pratiğinde sıklıkla atıfta bulunduğu Frederick Kiesler’in “Sonsuz Ev” kavramı üzerinde durulmuştur. Araştırmada literatür tarama ve nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden yorumlayıcı yöntem kullanılarak, Kiaer’in temsil edildiği sanat galerilerinin web sitelerinden, sanatçı ile yapılan röportajlardan, uluslararası bienal ve sergi yazılarından yararlanılmıştır.
Contemporary art embodies multilingual, alternative, inquisitive, and inclusive propositions, infused with cultural, scientific, and technological advancements and nurtured by diverse materials that foster interdisciplinary structures. In this context, the inclusion of objects in art production dates back to the early 1900s, marking a period when a new material aesthetic began to emerge in art pieces. During the period known as Synthetic Cubism, which developed between 1912 and 1914, the technique of collage emerged as materials like paper, newspapers, linoleum, fabric, stamps, string, leaves, and insects were pasted onto the painting surface. Max Ernst described collage as “the meeting of two distant realities on a plane foreign to both.¹” Over time, objects played prominent roles in various forms such as assemblage, montage, Marcel Duchamp’s readymades, Kurt Schwitter’s Merzbau structures, and El Lisstzky’s Proun designs.
By the 1960s, the presence of objects had spread to the environment through installation art. In this production, where the fullness and emptiness of space were acutely felt, the foundations of a participatory art approach were laid. In this period, viewers shifted from passive to active roles, taking part in the formation of the artwork, initiating mutual interactions between the artwork, space, and viewer. With cultural transformations, artistic practices underwent intense change, leading to significant shifts in the structure of exhibition spaces. Artists’ efforts to explore new enviA ronments directed them to undiscovered places, making art producible in any setting and under any circumstances. In these works that emerged from experiencing space, action, process, and experimentation came to the forefront. From the postA1960 period to the present day, art has incorporated alternative movements such as conceptual art, land art, new media art, happenings, Fluxus, performance art, and process art. The primary reasons for the rapid emergence of these movements, compared to centuryAspanning movements like Cubism and Impressionism, can be summarised as the pace of scientific and technological advancements and artists’ boundless curiosity about their surroundings and desire to experiment with different things. Another concept related to installation is ‘siteAspecific’. In works created specifically for a given space, the unique characteristics of that environment are highlighted. In these productions, where the natural structure of the space is preserved but sometimes modified, works emerge that are integrated with and exist within that space.
In this context, the British artist Ian Kiaer stands out for his spatial propositions, maintaining a connection with the wall surface. In addition to painting, Kiaer has long admired the utopian projects of visionary intellectuals and architects such as ClaudeANicolas Ledoux, Curzio Malaparte, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Konstantin Melnikov and Frederick John Kiesler, and this fascination has evidently become a research subject in his art practice. The scope of this study is limited to Kiaer’s Endnote: Tooth project, which he has been working on since 2005. Inspired by the architect and theorist Frederick John Kiesler’s Tooth House project, modelled after an unfinished human tooth, Endnote: Tooth serves as the visual extension of Kiaer’s longAterm research. Kiaer’s installations, shaped through architectural, philosophical, and literary studies, offer narratives that could be interpreted as either utopian or dystopian. His works frequently incorporate found objects such as inflated Korean garbage bags, styrofoam, plexiglass sheets, wrapping paper, architectural models, and trash cans, which he situates in interconnected arrangements within or outside the exhibition space. With his Tooth House project, Kiaer presents a space of oscillation where objects confront each other. According to the artist, the arrangements and reuses of objects he has gathered over the years represent a way of accepting things as they are, listening to and revisiting the material, and thus the landscape he observes.
In this article, which adopts an interpretative method as part of qualitative research, a literature review on Ian Kiaer’s art practice was conducted; this included utilising the websites of art galleries representing the artist, interviews with the artist, and international biennial and exhibition writings. Subsequently, works produced by Kiaer within the scope of the Endnote: Tooth project, which spans a broad timeframe, were interpreted in light of the literary, architectural, and philosophical texts that nourish the artist’s creative practice.
