Aesthetic approaches to Diamide Castillo's theory and contemporary installation art

Abstract

This research presents a systematic attempt to analyze contemporary installation art as one of the most prominent manifestations of transformation in modern art. The artwork is no longer understood as a complete visual form; rather, it has become a complex aesthetic experience in which space, time, interaction, and cultural context intersect, with the viewer playing an active role as a partner in meaning-making. The study begins from a central problem: the inadequacy of traditional aesthetic approaches to interpret the experimental and participatory nature of installation art, which requires reconsidering critical and analytical tools. Accordingly, the research investigates the effectiveness of Diamid Castillo’s theory as a contemporary aesthetic approach capable of moving beyond formal and impressionistic description toward a deeper understanding of aesthetic experience as a dynamic process formed during reception and shaped by context.

Chapter One establishes the methodological framework by formulating the research problem, questions, and the single overarching objective, while clarifying the study’s academic and practical significance. It also specifies the thematic boundaries, the temporal scope (2010–2018), and the spatial scope within multiple international contexts, and defines key terms such as aesthetic approaches, installation art, aesthetic experience, and context. Chapter Two builds the theoretical framework by presenting the intellectual background of Castillo’s theory and explaining its core concepts (experience, interaction, context, and reception). It then discusses the concept, emergence, and main aesthetic characteristics of contemporary installation art, and concludes by demonstrating Castillo’s theory as a suitable analytical tool for this field. The chapter also reviews general trends in previous studies and highlights a knowledge gap: the limited direct application of Castillo’s theory to specific case studies.

Chapter Three applies the descriptive–analytical method to a purposive sample of three installation works: Christian Boltanski’s Personnes (2010), Anish Kapoor’s Descension (2014), and Pampl’s In Between Spaces (2018). The analysis combines precise formal description with aesthetic interpretation focusing on memory and absence, void and infinity, and the transformation of light into an interactive spatial structure. The findings show that installation art generates meaning through the interaction of viewer, space, and context, and that Castillo’s theory is effective in interpreting this experiential structure as a variable experience rather than a fixed criterion. The research concludes with key inferences emphasizing the centrality of reception and context, offers recommendations to strengthen contemporary aesthetic studies and integrate their concepts into art education, and proposes future research that expands the application of Castillo’s theory or compares it with other contemporary approaches.