Abstract
This chapter examines plastics’ capacity to extend sculptural vocabulary, especially their potential for translucence and the impact on sculptural form of the relatively recently developed processes of computer aided design and manufacture (CAD/CAM), for which plastics are frequently the material of choice. This provides a frame of reference for an analysis of the author’s investigation of the physical properties and semantic connotations of transparent acrylic in association with CAM/CAD processes in conceptualising in physical form the Christian notion of a tripartite deity. It is argued that the relatively recent availability of digital manufacturing methodologies has enabled the exploration of precise geometries in cast acrylic expanding the realisation of formalist conceptions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Bibliography
A&C Plastics, Inc. n.d. Plexiglas®: Acrylic Sheeting Facts. Accessed 28 August 2019. https://www.acplasticsinc.com/informationcenter/r/plexiglass-vs-Plexiglas.
All My Eyes. 2011. Modern Sculpture Made Clear. Accessed 27 August 2019. http://allmyeyes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/modern-sculpture-madeclear.html.
Aparicio, Carmen Fernàndex. n.d. Mouvnt Sculpture. Accessed 23 March 2019. https://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/collection/artwork/escultura-mouvnt-mouvnt-sculpture-1.
Beasley, Bruce. 2014. Apolymon. Accessed 3 June 2019. http://brucebeasley.com/2014/11/03/apolymon-2/.
Carel, Havi. 2017. The Uses and Abuses of Air. Accessed 3 March 2019. https://lifeofbreath.org/2017/06/the-uses-and-abuses-of-air-2/.
Christo and Jeanne-Claude. n.d. Accessed 23 August 2019. https://christojeanneclaude.net/.
Corning Museum of Glass. n.d. Collection. Atlantica. Accessed 27 August 2019. https://www.cmog.org/artwork/atlantica.
Crafts Council. n.d. Makers > Daniel Widrig. Accessed 13 June 2019. https://www.labcraft.org.uk/makers/about/daniel-widrig.
Cragg, Tony. n.d. Self-portrait on a Chair. Accessed 23 March 2019. http://www.tony-cragg.com/?/sculptures/1980-1984/930.
Eliasson, Olaf. n.d. Fog Assembly. Accessed 23 August 2019. https://olafureliasson.net/archive/artwork/WEK110139/fog-assembly#slideshow
Facsimile Magazine. 2:1. 2008. Automated Carving in Steel. Accessed 23 August 2019. http://facsimilemagazine.com/2008/01/index.html.
Fernàndez-Villa, Silvia Garcì et al. 2012. Industrial Development of Plastics and 20th-Century Art: New Synergies. Accessed 12 December 2019. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322581451_Industrial_development_of_plastics_and_20th-century_art_new_synergies#pf1.
Fujihata, Masaki. n.d.-a Geometric Love. Accessed 1 July 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw7yc6mIRqA.
———. n.d.-b. Forbidden Fruits. Accessed 1 July 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yygElySiA-.
Gayford, Martin. 2003. The Telegraph, May 29. Accessed 15 March 2020. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3595535/Whats-black-and-pink-and-blows-up.html.
Glasstress. Tony Cragg. n.d. Accessed 16 August 2020. http://glasstress.org/my-product/tony-cragg/.
Goldsworthy, Andy. 1990. A Collaboration with Nature. London: Abrams.
Hagen, D. 2003. Clear Outlook for Acrylic Sculpture in Art. Accessed 27 June 2019. https://www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-109905472/clear-outlook-for-acrylic-sculptures-with-technology.
Hammer, M., and C. Lodder. 2000. Constructing Modernity; the Art and Career of Naum Gabo. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Herbert, George. n.d. Teach Me My God and King. Accessed 4 April 2019. https://danutm.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/teach-me-my-god-and-king/.
Jones, Jonathan. 2014. The Guardian, October 20. Accessed 20 March 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2014/oct/20/paul-mccarthy-paris-tree-sculpture-butt-plug-controversy.
Karmel, Pepe. 2017. Robert Morris: Boustrophedons. Accessed 4 April 2019. https://www.castelligallery.com/attachment/en/5ccc8899a5aa2c2f30864af2/Publication/5d126c9e72a72c2116f961c4.
Lillian Goldman Law Library. 2008. Military-industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Accessed 23 August 2019. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp.
Lucie-Smith, Edward. 1987. Sculpture since 1945. London: Phaidon Press.
MACBA. n.d. Hans Hacke. Condensation Cube. Accessed 3 December 2017. https://www.macba.cat/en/condensation-cube-1523.
Manchester School of Art. n.d. Keith Brown. Sculptor Profile. Accessed 4 August 2019. https://www.art.mmu.ac.uk/profile/kbrown.
Mansfield, Guy. 2011. Unstable Arrangement Smoke Sculpture by Matt Dabrowski. Accessed 2 December 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsQjRGG4Zso.
McDonough, J., and A. Susskind. 1952. Numerically Controlled Milling Machine. Managing Requirements Knowledge, International Workshop on, New York City. Accessed 23 June 2019. https://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/AFIPS.1952.14.
Middleton, Arthur. n.d. Faith of our Fathers. Extraordinary in the Ordinary. Accessed 4 March 2019. http://trushare.com/91DEC02/DE02FAFA.htm.
Mitchell-Innes and Nash. n.d. Jessica Stockholder. Accessed 4 December 2019. https://www.miandn.com/artists/jessica-stockholder?view=slider#33.
Murmure. 2020. Black Trash Bags Take Control of Animal and Human Life in ‘Garb-age’. Accessed 10 May 2020. https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2020/03/murmure-black-garbage-bags/.
National Galleries Scotland. n.d. Art and Artists: Ron Mueck. Accessed 2 July 2019. https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/94045/girl.
Neri, Antonio. 2003. The Art of Glass. Hubbardston, MA: Heiden and Engle.
Newport Street Gallery. 2016. Jeff Koons: Now. Accessed 23 January 2020. https://www.newportstreetgallery.com/exhibition/jeff-koons-now/.
O’Steen, D. 2016. Presenting Plexiglas: Alexander Calder, Gilbert Rohde, and the Museum of Modern Art at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Accessed 2 September 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAShWaynw-A.
Read, H. 1964. A Concise History of Modern Sculpture. London: Thames and Hudson.
Recyclart. n.d. Discarded Plastic Bags. Sculptures by Kkalil Chistree. Accessed 9 June 2019. https://www.recyclart.org/discarded-plastic-bags-sculptures-by-Khalil-chishtee/.
Rich, C. 1973. The Materials and Methods of Sculpture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Robson, Aurora. n.d. Sculpture. Accessed 7 June 2019. http://www.aurorarobson.com/sculpture/.
Sachs, Joe. 1995. Aristotle’s Physics: a Guided Study. Chicago: Rutgers University Press.
———, ed. 2002. Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics. Indianapolis and Cambridge: Focus Publishing.
Sander, Karin. n.d. 3D Body Scans. Accessed 8 August 2019. https://www.karinsander.de/en/work/3d-bodyscan.
See, Grace Ignacia. 2019. Famous Minimalist Art That Defined the Genre. Accessed 10 May 2020. https://theartling.com/en/artzine/famous-minimalist-art/.
Serpentine Gallery. 1978. Henry Moore at the Serpentine: 80th Birthday Exhibition of Recent Carving and Bronzes. Accessed 9 June 2019. https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/henry-moore-serpentine-80th-birthday-exhibition-recent-carvings-and-bronzes/.
Smith, Roberta. 1994. Max Bill, 85, Painter Sculptor and Architect in Austere Style. The New York Times, December 14. Accessed 23 January 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/14/obituaries/max-bill-85-painter-sculptor-and-architect-in-austere-style.html.
Tate. n.d.-a. Naum Gabo. Spiral Theme. Accessed 2 February 2019. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gabo-spiral-theme-t00190.
———. n.d.-b. Art and Artists: William Tucker. Accessed 2 February 2019. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/tucker-anabasis-i-t01200.
———. n.d.-c. Exhibitions. Unilever Series: Anish Kapoor; Marsyas. Accessed 24 June 2019. http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/unilever-series/unilever-series-anish-kapoor-marsyas.
———. n.d.-d. Exhibitions. Paul McCarthy. Accessed 20 March 2019. http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/paul-mccarthy.
———. n.d.-e. Jeff Koons. New Hoover Convertibles, Green, Red, Brown, New Shelton Wet/Dry 10 Gallon Displaced Doubledecker. Accessed 2 February 2019. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/koons-new-hoover-convertibles-green-red-brown-new-shelton-wet-dry-10-gallon-displaced-ar00077.
———. n.d.-f. Art and Artists: Rachel Whiteread. Accessed 2 February 2019. https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/rachel-whiteread.
Taylor-Coolman, Boyd. 2010. The Theology of Hugh of St. Victor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
The Art Story. n.d. Louise Nevelson. Accessed 12 July 2019. https://www.theartstory.org/artist/nevelson-louise/artworks/#pnt_5.
The Mayor Gallery. n.d. Writing-New-Codes-Catalogue. Accessed 5 June 2019. https://www.mayorgallery.com/artists/157-robert-mallary/.
The Ohio State University. n.d. Charles A. Csuri Project. Accessed 11 July 19 2019. https://csuriproject.osu.edu/index.php/Detail/objects/769.
Van Sloun, Michael. 2011. St Patrick, the Shamrock and the Trinity. Accessed 4 June 2018. http://catholichotdish.com/the-pastors-page/saint-patrick-the-shamrock-and-the-trinity/.
Wallace, William. 2011. Tadao Ando. Water installation—Outside the Connaught Hotel London. Accessed 13 August 2019. https://londoniscool.com/tadao-ando-water-installation-%E2%80%93-outside-the-connaught-hotel-london.
Wroe, Nicholas. 2014. Allen Jones: ‘I Think of Myself as a Feminist’. Accessed 5 June 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/oct/31/allen-jones-i-think-of-myself-as-a-feminist.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hooper, R. (2020). Plastics’ Value as a Sculptural Medium. In: Lambert, S. (eds) Provocative Plastics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55882-6_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55882-6_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-55881-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-55882-6
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)