
Plastic arts are
art form
The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of me ...
s which involve physical manipulation of a ''plastic medium'', such as
clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
,
wax
Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to give lo ...
,
paint
Paint is a material or mixture that, when applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image or images known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are ...
or even plastic in the modern sense of the word (a
ductile
Ductility refers to the ability of a material to sustain significant plastic deformation before fracture. Plastic deformation is the permanent distortion of a material under applied stress, as opposed to elastic deformation, which is reversi ...
polymer
A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...
) to create
works of art
A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literature ...
. The term is used more generally to refer to the
visual arts
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...
(such as painting, sculpture, ceramics, architecture, film and photography), rather than literature and music. Materials for use in the plastic arts, in the narrower definition, include those that can be carved or shaped, such as
stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
or
wood
Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
,
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
,
glass
Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...
, or
metal
A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
.
History
The word ''plastic'' draws from the Ancient Greek (''plastikós''), which means 'to mold' or 'to shape'. It has long preceded its dominant modern meaning as a
synthetic material. The term ''plastic arts'' has been used historically to denote visual art forms (painting, sculpture, and ceramics) as opposed to literature or music.
The related terms ''plasticity'' and ''plasticism'' became more widely used in the early 20th century by critics discussing modern painting, particularly the works of
Paul Cézanne
Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...
.
The oldest known "plastic art" dates back to 30,000–34,000
BP.
Application to literature
In contrast to the limiting of 'plastic arts' to sculpture and architecture by
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling
Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (; 27 January 1775 – 20 August 1854), later (after 1812) von Schelling, was a German philosopher. Standard histories of philosophy make him the midpoint in the development of German idealism, situating him be ...
in 1807, the German critic
August Wilhelm Schlegel
August Wilhelm von Schlegel (Schlegel until 1812; ; ; 8 September 176712 May 1845) was a German Indologist, poet, translator and critic. With his brother Friedrich Schlegel, he was a leading influence within Jena Romanticism. His translations o ...
(1767–1845) applied the concept not only to visual arts, but also
poetry
Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
.
Classical poetry lines he saw using plastic isolation, and rhyme falling under the Romantic (domain).
In Schlegel's Viennese lectures (1809–1811), published in 1827 as ''On the Theory and History of the Plastic Arts'', he contrasted the plasticism of Classical Art with picturesque
Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
:
Gallery
File:Venus de Brassempouy.jpg, ''Venus de Brassempouy
The Venus of Brassempouy (French: ''la Dame de Brassempouy'', , meaning "Lady of Brassempouy", or ''Dame à la Capuche'', "Lady with the Hood") is a fragmentary ivory figurine from the Upper Palaeolithic, apparently broken from a larger figure at ...
'', a 25th millennium BC carving in mammoth ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...
File:Benin bronze in Bristol Museum.jpg, A 16th-century bronze sculpture from the Kingdom of Benin
File:Moai Rano raraku.jpg, Moai
Moai or moʻai ( ; ; ) are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but h ...
, stone sculptures created by the Rapa Nui people
The Rapa Nui (Rapa Nui: , Spanish: ) are the Indigenous Polynesian peoples of Easter Island. The easternmost Polynesian culture, the descendants of the original people of Easter Island make up about 60% of the current Easter Island population a ...
File:Baskets (inkoko) - Rwanda - Royal Museum for Central Africa - DSC06584.JPG, Woven baskets in Rwanda
File:Maillol - Sculpture 04.jpg , Sculpture in terracotta
Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...
by Aristide Maillol
Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol (; December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944) was a French sculptor, painter, and printmaking, printmaker.Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette . "Maillol, Aristide". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford ...
File:Circle of Life from Ivana Houserova.jpg, Glass art
Glass art refers to individual works of art that are substantially or wholly made of glass. It ranges in size from monumental works and installation pieces to wall hangings and windows, to works of art made in studios and factories, including gl ...
by
File:Sheila Hicks Exhibition at Toronto Textile Museum (29758946624).jpg, ''Hastings Visit to the Great Plains'' (1979), a tapestry in linen and cotton by Sheila Hicks
Sheila Hicks (born 1934) is an American artist. She is known for her innovative and experimental weavings and sculptural textile art that incorporate distinctive colors, natural materials, and personal narratives.
Since 1964, she has lived and ...
File:Taj Mahal (Edited).jpeg, The Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...
, an architectural work designed by Ustad Ahmad Lahori
File:Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, from C2RMF retouched.jpg, ''Mona Lisa
The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...
'', an oil painting
Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...
created by Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...
in the 15th century
See also
*
*
*
* (according to
Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He was one of the pioneers o ...
)
*
*
References
Further reading
*
Barnes, A. C., ''The Art in Painting'', 3rd ed., 1937, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., NY.
* Bukumirovic, D. (1998). ''Maga Magazinovic''. Biblioteka Fatalne srpkinje knj. br. 4. Beograd: Narodna knj.
* Fazenda, M. J. (1997). ''Between the pictorial and the expression of ideas: the plastic arts and literature in the dance of Paula Massano''. N.p.
* Gerón, C. (2000). ''Enciclopedia de las artes plásticas dominicanas: 1844–2000''. 4th ed. Dominican Republic s.n.
*
Schlegel, August Wilhelm., (1966) ''Vorlesungen uber dramatische Kunst und Literatur'', Stuttgart:
Kohlhammer Verlag
W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart.
History
Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-la ...
, 1966, p. 21f.
External links
*
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