All about Sculptures
What are sculpturs?
Asculpture is a three-dimensional, physical object in the visual arts. The terms sculpture and sculpture largely coincide in common usage. On the one hand, both refer to an individual work of art (also called a pictorial work); on the other hand, they apply to sculpture as a whole as a genre of art.
Abgrenzung zur Plastik
The word sculpture has been used since the 18th century as a loan word from Latin. Latin sculptura is derived from the verb sculpere, meaning "to carve" or "chisel", and thus denotes the activity of the sculptor working with wood or stone. The work of art is cut out of the block ("cut" or "carved").
This is in contrast to sculpture in the original or narrower sense. The term is derived from the Greek word plássein, meaning to knead, shape, form a soft mass. Metallic materials are more likely to be built up and worked (modelled, assembled, welded) or cast into shape (see art casting).
Today, few specialists make a sharp distinction between sculpture and sculpting in the original sense. Especially in contemporary art (in the context of assemblages or collage-like spatial installations) this distinction does not apply to many visual works, so the two terms can hardly be used in the sense of different art genres. In the case of individual works, it can be better assessed whether sculpture or sculpture is the most appropriate term. Nevertheless, the terms are now considered to be interchangeable, even when referring to individual works of art.
In architecture, the term large sculpture is applied to buildings when they are considered works of art in their own right.