Art Installation VS. Wall Murals - Which is best for you?

Wall murals are an incredible way to bring personality and creativity to any space, whether it is a home, office, retail space, or an outdoor space. It can be as simple as bringing your branding to life with a painted logo, or as intricate as painting a detailed cityscape to represent the local community. Murals show an appreciation for the arts and also give a sense of human touch within the built environment, which can attract both customers and employees. What is the difference between murals and art installations? Let’s take you through it.

If you want to take your space to the next level, art installations are for you.  

An art installation, also known as installation art, is a three-dimensional piece that is site-specific, and can be permanent or temporary. These installations can showcase a brand or invoke a feeling and can spark an audiences’ interest more than a normal framed piece of art or decor would. Art installations can take murals to the next level with dimensionality, texture, and interaction.

In HashiCorp’s offices, IDF Studios created a professional yet distinctive interior design that elevates the office through a combination of warm hospitality and modern edgy. With that vision in mind, Wall and Wall took HashiCorp’s geometric branding and angles a step further with a string art/mural combination. By incorporating string art into the project, we brought an extra layer of visual and tactile experience and made this hallway wall unique and exciting. The extra layer of this simple material took this office to the next level.

When the owners of Destapas, a high-end Spanish restaurant coming soon to the Mission,  approached Wall and Wall, they wanted the experience of Spain to come alive in the interior design. We saw an opportunity to bring this wall art to the next level by bringing the streets of Madrid to the interior space through wheat-paste. We connected with Beatriz Montilla, a Spanish architectural photographer, to get specific shots of each building so we could piece together a cityscape of Madrid and collage the buildings into a wheat-paste art installation. This piece was custom cut from plywood, pasted with the cityscape as a halftone graphic, and installed with the subtle glow of LED-lit windows. Both unique and elegant, this art installation conveys a sense of human connection and brings a polished touch to the interior space, which is now ready for its grand opening.

Installation art comes in many different forms and feelings, as it depends on the vision and experience you are trying to create. An original art installation style focuses on materials, form, pattern, and concepts to create the artwork, whereas a technology-based piece adds a layer of interactivity through light, sound, motion, and storytelling, which is why we call these works Interactive Art. The use of technology can transform both your space and a piece of art into an active and collaborative experience.

When adding technology to your interactive art, it can come in the form of projection mapping, such as what we did for Capital One at SXSW in Austin, Texas. With this wall mural, we worked with Mirror Show Management to bring the cityscape mural to life through animation. Guests could wave their hands in front of the wall and see the birds fly away or a building light up. It is a way of highlighting certain aspects of the art piece and better tell the story of the art.

Another way of doing this is through simple light and sound interactions. For Ellucian Live 2018, Wall and Wall had the opportunity to design and build a pop-up space where conference attendees could visit and interact with the pop-up space between sessions. Together, we decided to tell the history of “technology within higher education” through this interactive mural. The mural shows the progression of education and the technology that has changed the industry through playful and fun illustrations. When you touch the illustrations that have color, a corresponding sound or light comes on to bring the mural to life. We love this because it sparks an interaction between the art and attendees in a way they would not expect.

How to make the mural touchless…

With the use of proximity sensors, you can create an interactive art installation without the need to touch the surface of the wall at all. Simply program the points to activate at a specified distance from the wall so that when your hand waves in front of the mural, the interaction turns on to surprise guests. With health and safety in mind, this touchless mural is the perfect way to still include the beauty of connection in a thoughtful, innovative, and hygienic way.

Whether you want to use technology or not, Wall and Wall will create an engaging and appropriate art installation for your space. When deciding on the direction and overall vision for your space, it is important to consider these four factors...  

Determining factors that will guide your decision:

Space -

How big is your wall or space?

Do you want this art to be permanent or temporary?

Is your location inside or outside where it will be exposed to the elements?

Budget -

Do you have a set budget?

Will this art installation require maintenance?

As a general rule of thumb, the price range goes from Low to High as followed:

1. Mural
2. Static Art installation
3. Interactive Installation (Light and Sound)
4. Interactive Installation (Projection mapping)

Audience -

Who is your core audience (age group, company culture)?

What is the story or feeling you want to convey to your audience?

What type of engagement do you want with your audience?

Time -

How much time do we have for design and fabrication?

How long do you want your audience to engage with this art piece? For example, is it something that is aesthetically beautiful and doesn’t need a specific interaction, or would you like your audience to engage with this art piece directly?

With all of these factors in mind, Wall and Wall can help guide you to the best fit for your space, budget, and vision in your project. There is an art piece for everyone and the process to get there is easy, exciting and stimulating. To learn what your options are and to take the next steps, you can email us at info@wallandwall.com or connect with us through the contact form. Our team will get back to you shortly to gather more information before providing a free estimate. We look forward to bringing art to your project or space.

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