Art installation of conic sea and peculiar angels and its affordances

Installations attempt to expose everyday space by depicting an environment that appears normal yet has been altered in perceptibly unexpected ways. Such environments are typically designed to re-orient participants, giving them the feeling of stepping out of conventional reality, with the goal of creating a lingering heightened perception of one?s normal environs. A video art installation entitled Conic Sea and Peculiar Angels was created with the intent to inveigle participants into exploring an unwonted environment. The main artistic properties used to entice exploration will be reviewed. With emphasis on these specific properties influential artists and their work will be expounded upon. Ecological Psychology, a theoretical framework most closely associated with the seminal writings of J.J. Gibson, was used to critically evaluate this installation. A key theoretical construct in this framework is the concept of an affordance. An affordance is a property of the immediate environment taken with reference to a perceiver. Such relational properties enable a range of activities that may or may not be utilized by the inhabitants of an environment. The artistic properties used by artists can be related to affordances in Ecological Psychology, as are they both mechanisms to entice exploration. Based on personal observation and reflection, as well as on the works of relevant artists, the affordances that enable exploration of this installation are proposed and discussed. The installation mounted and view on three separate occasions. The researcher observed and documented the audiences? responses that showed a desire to explore. It was found that the artistic properties in Conic Sea and Peculiar Angels afforded participants to explore.