If walls could talk

Installation art bring its own rewards and difficulties. At the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, we have exhibited some pieces of recent British installation art, including Tracey Emin’s ‘My Bed’ and Damien Hirst’s ‘Away from the Flock’, currently showing as part of our Hirst display. Speaking in purely practical terms, there are three broad issues involved in exhibiting work of this type: the physical (i.e. size, weight and safety), the artist’s requirements and expense.
On the physical matters, it is first crucial to know that the work will get through the doors and that the floors and walls can support it. As part of our ARTIST ROOMS display of Damien Hirst, we originally intended to show ‘Mother and Calf Divided’, but this plan was quickly abandoned when we learned that it weighed 17 tonnes, and our floor would need buttressing from underneath. The sheep looks small by comparison, but with the liquid and case it still weighs about a tonne, which is focused on a small area. A structural engineer was called in to determine whether the floor would take it: it would, so long as it stood over a load-bearing beam, and happily that was the perfect spot for it. Then there was the formaldehyde. The tank containing the sheep (which, incidentally, travels separately and is vacuum packed), takes about 800 litres of distilled water and only about four litres of formaldehyde. But it’s enough to mean that air pumps had to be hired, in case of spillage, and the fire services had to be notified in advance. Installing the work took two Momart technicians (specially licensed to handle formaldehyde and wearing outfits that resembled spacesuits) the best part of two days. The room was sealed off while the men wrestled upside down with the sheep, securing it to the bottom of the tank, and then filling the tank, carefully avoiding a build-up of bubbles. I purchased a child’s fishing net from a pet shop, in order to remove any bits of the sheep’s wool which might float free.

That work was straightforward in terms of the artist’s involvement – it was not required. For her major exhibition, Tracey Emin spent two weeks in Edinburgh and was involved in the set-up of every piece (contrary to her reputation, she was easy to work with). ‘My Bed’, on loan from the Saatchi Gallery, had not been exhibited for several years, and Tracey was concerned that parts might have disappeared, or moths might have been at the sheets. As it turned out, everything was in place and nicely packed. Half a dozen of us, including the artist, watched as our conservators reverently unpacked every object (including the condoms) and made detailed photographs and conservation reports. Tracey spent a day and night setting it out, even sweeping up fluff from another room and sprinkling it over the work to give it a more authentic look. Each time it was set out on the tour to Málaga and Bern, she laid it out in a slightly different way. This begs the question of what happens when the artist is no longer there to take control.
Expense is a major issue with installation art. Artists usually install the pieces themselves (often with assistants) and this involves costs. Then there are the hefty transport charges and, often, the cost of hiring in electricians, IT experts, audio visual technicians, builders, painters and other manpower. It is often the case that the simpler the work looks in the Gallery, the more complicated it was to install.