Plastic arts

Not to be confused with Plastic in art.

Plastic arts are art forms which involve physical manipulation of a plastic medium, such as clay, wax, paint – or even plastic in the modern sense of the word (a ductile polymer) – to create works of art. The term is used more generally to refer to the visual arts (such as painting, sculpture, ceramics, architecture, film and photography), rather than literature and music.[1][2] Materials for use in the plastic arts, in the narrower definition, include those that can be carved or shaped, such as stone or wood, concrete, glass, or metal.

History

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The word "plastic" draws from the Greek word "plastikos," 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.[3]

The oldest known "plastic art" dates back to 30,000–34,000 BP. [4]

Application to literature

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In contrast to the limiting of 'plastic arts' to sculpture and architecture by Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling in 1807,[5] the German critic August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845) applied the concept not only to visual arts, but also poetry.

Classical poetry lines he saw using plastic isolation, and rhyme falling under the Romantic (domain).[6]

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:

[He] operated with the antinomy of terms plastic/pictorial, mechanically/ organically, finite/ infinite, and closed/accomplished. Schlegel stated that the spirit of the entire antique culture and poetry was plastic and that the spirit of modern culture, however, was picturesque (pittoresk)[7]

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See also

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  • Art materials – Materials and tools used to create a work of art
  • Handicraft – Item production made completely by hand or with simple tools
  • Media (arts) – Materials and tools used to create a work of art
  • Neoplasticism – Art theory espousing pure abstraction (according to Mondrian)
  • Plastic in art – Use of synthetic materials to create art
  • Visual arts – Art forms involving visual perception

References

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  1. ^ "Merriam-Webster Online (entry for "plastic arts")". Merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2011-10-30.
  2. ^ Kyle, Jill Anderson (2009). Staviydky; Rothkoff (eds.). Cezanne and American Modernism (First ed.). Yale University Press. pp. 67, 68. ISBN 9780300147155.
  3. ^ Kyle, Jill Anderson (2009). Staviydky; Rothkoff (eds.). Cezanne and American Modernism (First ed.). Yale University Press. pp. 67, 68. ISBN 9780300147155.
  4. ^ Witzel, E. J. Michael (2012). The Origins of the World's Mythologies. Oxford University Press. p. 260. ISBN 9780199710157. Apart from rock art, whether engraved, drawn, or painted, there also exist some examples of early sculptures and plastic art (30,000–34,000 bp )
  5. ^ Leighton, Lauren Gray, ed. (1987). Russian Romantic Criticism: An Anthology. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0313255847.
  6. ^ Ewton Jnr, Ralph W. (1972). The literary theories of August Wilhelm Schlegel. Walter de Gruyter and Co. ISBN 978-3110991635.
  7. ^ Bohl, Charles C. (2009). "Civic Art Then and Now: The Culture of Good Place-making". In Bohl, Charles; Lejeune, Jean-François (eds.). Sitte, Hegemann and the Metropolis: Modern Civic Art and International Exchanges. Routledge. ISBN 978-0415424073.

Further reading

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  • Barnes, A. C., The Art in Painting, 3rd ed., 1937, Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., NY. OCLC 1572753
  • 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, 1966, p. 21f.
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