Sculpture I / Materials as Language
Practice question · Put in order

Arrange these developments in the relation between sculpture and its materials.

Hints
  1. The doctrine is a reaction to what preceded it.
  2. The surviving claim is the most recent and the least dogmatic.
Show the answer
  1. Illusionistic carving in which stone imitates other substances
  2. Ruskin argues for honesty in the use of materials
  3. British modernists adopt direct carving as a practice
  4. Gabo and Pevsner renounce mass altogether
  5. The weaker claim survives: the material is part of the content
Why

The last step is where the argument actually settled. Nobody now defends the strong doctrine and nobody treats material as neutral either, the material is part of the content, and how much it should dominate is a decision per work rather than a rule.

Read the lesson: Materials as Language →

Practise Materials as Language

The app has 5 more questions on this lesson, and keeps your place in the course. Sculpture I is free to start.

More questions on Materials as Language