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Sheiii Iivin


Sculptuie has ieceiveu compaiatively little attention fiom philosopheis of ait.
Bowevei, sculptuie, in its classical anu contempoiaiy foims, iaises uistinctive
questions about the ontology, iepiesentational chaiactei anu appieciation of ait,
anu is thus well woith attenuing to.

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Befoie the tuin of the twentieth centuiy, neaily all sculptuies in the Westein fine ait
tiauition weie thiee-uimensional iepiesentations of iecognizable objects, most
often human figuies. Nost sculptuies weie fieestanuing objects, though bas-ielief
sculptuie on builuings anu altaipieces also constituteu a notable foim. Sculptuies
weie typically static objects maue of uuiable mateiials such as stone, bionze, clay
anu woou.

But ovei the past centuiy, the iange of sculptuial mateiials, subject matteis anu
piactices has exploueu. Nany sculptuies, such as the abstiact woiks of Baibaia
Bepwoith oi Louise Nevelson, aie not obviously iepiesentations of objects, even
imaginaiy ones. Kinetic sculptuies, unlike theii static pieuecessois, involve
movement anu, sometimes, sounu elements. Installation aitwoiks fiequently
involve an immeisive enviionment that we exploie by moving thiough it, iathei
than an object that we view by ciicling it; anu they may incoipoiate multimeuia
elements such as film anu viueo. Eaithwoiks involve inteiventions, sometimes on a
veiy laige scale, in exteiioi lanuscapes. Sculptuie incluues all of these uevelopments,
since they aie outgiowths of eailiei sculptuial tiauitions anu piactices. At the same
time, we shoulu maintain the tiauitional uivisions sepaiating sculptuie fiom
painting anu aichitectuie, anu to uistinguish sculptuie fiom peifoimance ait, which
iaises inteiesting but uistinct issues. Sculptuies must also be uistinguisheu fiom
thiee-uimensional non-ait objects, no small feat now that aitists have begun to
incoipoiate a wiue aiiay of aitifacts into theii woik. Sometimes a snow shovel is
just a snow shovel; othei times it is Naicel Buchamp's (191S) In Auvance of the
Bioken Aim.

A simple, neat uefinition of sculptuie is thus piecluueu by the gieat uiveisity of
sculptuial woiks anu by the complex contouis of the bounuaiies that uistinguish
sculptuie fiom othei uomains, which aie the piouuct moie of histoiical tiauitions
anu piactices than of iational calculation. Noieovei, theie is no uefining sculptuie
without having alieauy maue some uecisions about what to incluue, as inuicateu
above. Anu once those uecisions have been maue, much inquiiy about sculptuie
coulu pioceeuanu has pioceeueuby looking at a vaiiety of cases without tiying
to unify them unuei a uefinition.

An attempt at uefinition might, nonetheless, be helpful in allowing us to see wheie
philosophical inquiiy is most neeueu. So let's begin heie: sculptuie is the ait foim
consisting of the aiticulation oi piesentation of objects geaieu centially towaiu
appieciation in thiee spatial uimensions (anu possibly the tempoial uimension),
excluuing substantially constiucteu builuings anu woiks involving the living human
bouy.

In claiming that sculptuies aie "geaieu towaiu" iathei than "intenueu foi"
appieciation, the uefinition iemains neutial about whethei the aitist's intentions oi
othei factois, such as auuience ieception oi aitistic convention, ueteimine the aims
oi functions of an aitwoik. An account of what ueteimines the aitwoik's aims woulu
be neeueu to flesh out the uefinition.

The uefinition expiessly incluues sculptuial woiks with a tempoial component, such
as those with kinetic oi time-baseu meuia elements. It also nous to the fact that oui
appieciation even of static sculptuie is typically tempoial in a special way, involving
oui movement aiounu oi thiough the sculptuie as we gain access to featuies that
aie not available, even in piinciple, to a momentaiy glance. (See Naitin 1981:
chaptei 2.) It uistinguishes sculptuie fiom painting by invoking appieciation in
thiee spatial uimensions; while paintings aie thiee-uimensional objects, in stanuaiu
cases appieciation focuses on theii (appioximately) two-uimensional suifaces. The
uefinition ioughly sepaiates sculptuie fiom thiee-uimensional aits such as
fuinituie anu potteiy by stipulating that sculptuie is geaieu centially towaiu
appieciation, as opposeu to functions such as suppoiting the human bouy oi
containing othei mateiials. This uivision is somewhat poious, as it must be. It allows
that potteiy anu fuinituie geaieu centially towaiu appieciation, iathei than oi in
auuition to use, will count as sculptuie. The uefinition ioughly uistinguishes
sculptuie fiom aichitectuie by iuling out substantially constiucteu builuings,
leaving open the possibility that some woiks of aichitectuie that aie not
substantially constiucteu builuings may occupy the bounuaiy between the two
categoiies.

The uistinctions between sculptuie anu othei soits of thiee-uimensional aitifact
might be fiimeu up by offeiing an account of the specific soit of appieciation that is
appiopiiate to sculptuie. As uiscusseu below, such accounts, which aie often
especially conceineu with the uistinction between painting anu sculptuie, tenu to
appeal to the iole of touch anu bouily oi spatial awaieness in the appieciation of
sculptuie. In oiuei to uistinguish sculptuie in the appiopiiate ways fiom fuinituie,
jeweliy, coutuie anu potteiy, these accounts woulu neeu to be supplementeu with
an unueistanuing of the iole of ciitical engagement in the appieciation of sculptuie
as ait: we appieciate sculptuies not just by consiueiing theii effects on oui physical
oi spatial awaieness, but also by consiueiing them in light of specific aitistic, ait
theoietic anu ait histoiical tiauitions. To appieciate a sculptuie as ait, then, is to
engage with it ciitically in light of these tiauitions even while expeiiencing its bouily
oi spatial effects.

A final note is that oui uefinition leaves open the possibility that Buchamp's In
Auvance of the Bioken Aim is not, in fact, a sculptuie. If the woik uoes not have
appieciation in thiee uimensions among its cential aimsif, insteau, its cential aim
is to piompt ieflection on the bounuaiies of ait, oi to emphasize the aitist's
auuacious gestuie in piesenting a puichase fiom the haiuwaie stoie as an
aitwoikthen it may not be a sculptuie uespite involving a thiee-uimensional
object.

!012341562 07.4+.4
Nuch of the iecent philosophical liteiatuie about sculptuie conceins the natuie of
sculptuial iepiesentation. Intuitively, iepiesentation in the visual aits has
something to uo with iesemblance: a painting oi sculptuie looks like the object that
it iepiesents. Cleaily, though, this notion must be qualifieu, foi the uiffeiences
between an aitwoik anu the object it iepiesents may be, fiom some peispectives,
fai moie salient than the similaiities. A sculptuie may be colu, haiu, monochiome
anu static, while the peison it poitiays is waim, soft, multicoloieu anu mobile.
Richaiu Wollheim (1968; 1987), speaking chiefly of painting, iefeis to this
phenomenon as twofoluness: we see both the aitwoik with its paiticulai mateiial
featuies, anu the object iepiesenteu by way of those featuies, which we unueistanu
as having a uistinct set of chaiacteiistics. In Wollheim's teims, appieciation of an
aitwoik involves seeing-in: we see the peison in the painting, while iecognizing that
many featuies of the painting aie not to be attiibuteu to the peison.

Robeit Bopkins (2uuS) suggests that Wollheim's view, in its bioau outlines, is as
plausible foi sculptuie as foi painting. But seeing-in must function uiffeiently foi
sculptuie than foi painting: in stanuaiu sculptuial cases, it will not involve
asceitaining a thiee-uimensional object baseu on maiks on a two-uimensional
suiface. Bowevei, we shoulu not concluue that the sculptuie simply iepiesents an
object that shaies its thiee-uimensional foim (peihaps aujusteu foi scale). As
Bopkins (1994) notes, paiticulai objects can be misiepiesenteu in sculptuie: a
sculptuie may piesent a caiicatuie of a peison, oi may piesent some of hei featuies
eiioneously, while still iepiesenting hei. The sculptuial foim may be abstiact
enough that its mateiial featuies uon't iesemble those of its subject to the exclusion
of eveiy othei peison. Noieovei, it may possess stylistic elements (such as a iough
suiface) that we cleaily aie not meant to attiibute to the peison. Theie may, then, be
significant uisciepancies between the foim of the sculptuie anu the foim of the
subject it iepiesents. Bopkins (1994) aigues that the sculptuie ultimately
iepiesents the subject that it is taken to iepiesent within an appiopiiate
appieciative expeiience, wheie this will be ueteimineu not just by isomoiphism of
shape, but also by othei factois such as the mannei of piesentation of the sculptuie
(incluuing the woik's title), anu the viewei's knowleuge of conventions of
iepiesenting the subject (e.g., the knowleuge that ueoige W. Bush is fiequently
caiicatuieu as having veiy laige eais). 0ui peiceptual anu cognitive piocesses in
iesponuing to the sculptuie, then, leau to the sculptuie's being phenomenally
expeiienceu as iesembling a paiticulai subject. This phenomenal expeiience of
iesemblance ueteimines what the sculptuie iepiesents.

Some wiiteis have maue claims about the content of sculptuie moie geneially.
Seveial (e.g., Beiuei 2uu21778; Naitin 1981; Reau 19S6; Rogeis 1984) have
iemaikeu on the special suitability of sculptuie to uepict human bouies. Naitin
(1981: 12S) claims, moieovei, that whatevei paiticulai sculptuies may iepiesent,
"sculptuie has a uistinctive unueilying, all-peivasive subject matteithe
impoitance of being awaie of oui unity with things.." As these claims aie ielateu to
matteis of sculptuial aesthetics anu appieciation, they will be taken up in the
following section.

An aspect of sculptuial content that has been neglecteu, but is cential to the
appieciation of much mouein anu contempoiaiy sculptuie, peitains to the
geneiation of meaning not just thiough iesemblance-baseu iepiesentation but
thiough incoipoiation oi inclusion. Naicel Buchamp's (191S) Bicycle Wheel is a
sculptuial assemblage involving a bicycle wheel anu foik mounteu upsiue uown on
a woouen stool. Appieciation of the iesulting object uepenus in pait on the
iecognition of what may be calleu its inclusion-content: the fact that it incoipoiates
a bicycle wheel anu a stool, anu that it positions them so as to ienuei both of the
incoipoiateu objects ineit ielative to theii usual functions. The fact that the objects
aie actually a bicycle wheel anu a stool, not meiely objects constiucteu to iesemble
them, contiibutes to the impact of the woik. Repiesentation may be one aspect of
inclusion-content: peihaps the bicycle wheel contiibutes content to the woik paitly
by iepiesenting (oi, in Nelson uoouman's |1976j teims, exemplifying) ceitain
piopeities of bicycle wheels moie geneially. But this uoes not seem to exhaust the
inclusion-content that a ieauy-maue object can biing to a sculptuial woik. Tiacey
Emin's (1998) Ny Beu is a piesentation of Emin's beu anu associateu objects,
incluuing soileu sheets, iumpleu pantyhose, useu conuoms anu cigaiette butts.
While the meaning of the woik may uepenu in pait on these objects' iepiesenting oi
symbolizing othei things, it also seems to uepenu on veiy paiticulai aspects of how
these objects aie aiiangeu anu how they aie pioposeu as ielating to each othei in
the context of Emin's life. Theie is thus no ieason to assume that inclusion-content
can be ieuuceu to iepiesentational content moie geneially.

Some woiks have both stanuaiu iepiesentational content anu inclusion-content. In
Zhan Wang's 0iban Lanuscapes of the 2uuus, stainless steel kitchen implements aie
assembleu so as to iepiesent cityscapes. These woiks have both iepiesentational
content (the cityscape) anu inclusion-content (pots, pans, spoons, etc.). Appieciating
the woik involves iecognizing both foims of content anu giasping theii inteiplay:
foi instance, the cleveiness of iepiesenting tiaffic by using foiks anu spoons whose
hanules suggest a tiail of motion in the vehicles' wake.

An aitwoik may also have inclusion-content by natuie of the substances it incluues,
even when these aie not ieauy-maue objects. }anine Antoni's (1992) unaw consists
in pait of a 6uu-pounu cube of chocolate anu a 6uu-pounu cube of laiu that the aitist
shapeu by caiving them with hei mouth. These mateiials seem to signify in a way
that, say, the stone of a tiauitional sculptuie uoes not. Though it ceitainly matteis
aesthetically that Nichelangelo's Piet is maue of maible, this choice of mateiial
uoes not seem to feeu into oui unueistanuing of the subject mattei: Naiy anu }esus
aie not piesenteu as haiu oi stony, as the magnificent uiapeiy cleaily attests. But
with Antoni's woik, the veiy natuie of the mateiials contiibutes to oui giasp of the
woik's themes of uesiie, excess anu female bouy image. A woik with a similai
appeaiance but maue of uiffeient mateiials woulu not expiess the same meanings in
the same way.

Because mouein anu contempoiaiy sculptuies often have inclusion-content that
significantly affects theii meanings, a philosophical account of inclusion-content is
neeueu to biing the liteiatuie on sculptuial content up to uate.

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A numbei of wiiteis have attempteu to chaiacteiize a uistinct sculptuial aesthetics,
in contiast with the aesthetics of painting. While Auolf von Biluebianu (19u7189S)
suggests that sculptuie is uistinctive in pioviuing a seiies of two-uimensional visible
silhouettes that aie appiehenueu fiom vaiious locations aiounu the sculptuie, most
have thought that touch oi bouily awaieness plays a special iole in the appieciation
of sculptuie. Beibeit Reau, offeiing an extieme veision of such a view, claims that
"|sjculptuie is an ait of palpationan ait that gives satisfaction in the touching anu
hanuling of objects" (19S6: 49) anu suggests that when we aie unable to touch a
sculptuie oui appieciation is impeueu. 0thei wiiteis, while acknowleuging a special
iole foi touch anu ielateu foims of bouily awaieness in the appieciation of sculptuie,
allow that the activation of this awaieness may occui by way of vision. }ohann
uottfiieu Beiuei (2uu21778) suggests that we use vision as a substitute foi touch
in oui appiehension of sculptuie: the eye is guiueu to seek out the infoimation that
the hanu uesiies. We aie then able to ieconstitute an unueistanuing of the foim as a
whole by imaginatively synthesizing the uata we have taken in thiough vision. (See
Zuckeit 2uu9 foi uetaileu uiscussion.) Beiuei suggests that the beauty of thiee-
uimensional foims, anu the pleasuie they occasion, belong to touch: the foim is felt
(peihaps imaginatively), not seen, as beautiful.

Some wiiteis have objecteu to the suggestion that sculptuie, in contiast to painting,
is a uistinctively tactile ait. Rhys Caipentei (196u) iejects outiight the claim that
sculptuie appeals to touch iathei than to vision, iegaiuing the mattei as settleu by
the fact that sculptuies aie maue chiefly to be lookeu at anu not felt. Bopkins (2uuS:
S76) notes that paintings, like sculptuies, can stimulate tactile imaginings in theii
viviu piesentation of textuies. Anu Bominic NcIvei Lopes (1997; 2uu2) aigues that
in piinciple, theie coulu be tactile pictoiial aits; it is meiely a contingent fact that
oui painting tiauition is uiiecteu towaiu vision iathei than touch.

Seveial wiiteis, though, have aigueu that sculptuie has a uistinctive effect on the
peiceivei's bouily awaieness. Beiuei (2uu21778) claimeu that we expeiience
imaginative bouily iuentification with sculptuies that uepict human bouies, anu that
this allows us to giasp the sculptuie's expiessive content. Robeit B. vance (199S:
22S) suggests that such iuentification occuis even when the subject of the sculptuie
is non-human oi abstiact: "I iuentify with . the sculptuie by imagining its appaient
featuies as being expeiienceu by myself," anu then "imagining it as an extension of
|myj own bouy."

vance's claim that we iuentify bouily with sculptuie seems moie plausible foi some
woiks than foi otheis. While Neiet 0ppenheim's (19S6) 0bject, a fui-coveieu cup,
saucei anu spoon, suiely affects oui bouily self-awaieness, it seems to uo so by
piovoking us to imagine what it woulu feel like to use the objects (anu tempting us
to touch them), iathei than by causing us to expeiience them as paits oi extensions
of oui bouies. 0thei accounts of sculptuie's effect on bouily self-awaieness have
attempteu to uo without vance's stiong claim about iuentification with sculptuies. F.
Baviu Naitin (1981), offeiing a uetaileu account of the phenomenology of sculptuie
appieciation, aigues that sculptuie enlivens space, senuing out foices that cieate
uiges in the viewei to iesponu with bouily movement. Though we peiceive
sculptuies visually, he suggests, "|Wje invaiiably peiceive the foices of a sculptuie
as if they weie piessing on oui bouies" (1981: 62). Foi this ieason, "0ui bouy
sensations aie pait of the unity of the aesthetic expeiience" of a sculptuie (1981:
74). Because sculptuie affects oui bouies in this way, Naitin suggests, it is unique
among the aits in emphasizing oui "physical oi spatial withness" with things (1981:
1S4): wheieas painting cieates a pictoiial space fiom which we aie physically
excluueu, sculptuie heightens oui sense of shaiing space with anu being impingeu
on by othei things. Naitin claims that this is a theiapeutic effect in the context of
mouein life, which often causes us to feel alienateu anu uistanceu fiom oui actual
physical enviionment.

Naitin's view, like vance's, seems bettei suiteu to some sculptuies than to otheis.
Not all sculptuie obviously "'bangs' into oui bouies with conveigent foices" (Naitin
1981: 169), even when we uo feel inclineu to move aiounu it. vieweis move aiounu
Anish Kapooi's (2uu4-2uu6) Clouu uate, a laige public sculptuie in Chicago, to
exploie the vaiying ways its suiface ieflects theii own bouies, iathei than being
moveu aiounu by foices the object piojects into the suiiounuing space. It is also
uncleai that Naitin can make goou on his claim that sculptuie invaiiably piomotes
oui "withness with things." In his iemaiks about the iepiesentation of women in
sculptuie, he says, "Even the most peifect ieal womanat least fiom a male
chauvinist stanupointis always moving away, oi talking too much, oi coveiing up,
oi in bau light, oi sick, oi getting olu. The sculptoi can make hei stanu still, shut hei
up, stiip hei, give hei goou light, anu keep hei young anu healthy" (1981: 167). If a
cential function of some sculptuie is to iealize the sexist pioject of shutting women
up, stiipping them, anu foicing theii bouies into ageless immobility, it is haiu to see
how this helps to secuie the auuience membei's "withness" with ieal women oi
theii bouies. Noie geneially, the iuealization of objects oi the cieation of immeisive
spaces thiough sculptuie may, in some instances, uistance us fiom the physical
paiticulaiity of the woilu we live in iathei than ieconcile us to it.

Naitin's iemaik calls to oui attention the fact that sculptuie, especially when it
uepicts the human figuie, may appeal to us as specifically embouieu anu genueieu
beings: anu pait of its appeal to oui bouily senses may be sexual. While most
commentatois have shieu away fiom uiscussing the iole of sexuality in aesthetic
iesponses to ait, anu some have claimeu that sexual anu aesthetic iesponses aie
incompatible, Beiuei (2uu21778) acknowleuges that sexual attiaction can pioviue
the impetus foi caieful aesthetic exploiation of a sculptuially uepicteu human foim,
anu holus that bouily iesponses aie integial to iathei than in tension with aesthetic
ones. As Beiuei notes, anu as iemains tiue touay, philosopheis have tenueu to
piivilege vision as the "highest" of the senses anu to uownplay the impoitance of
embouieu expeiience, incluuing sexuality. Rachel Zuckeit (2uu9: 294) suggests that
the intimate connection of sculptuie to oui embouieu conuition may explain the
stiiking philosophical neglect of sculptuie among the aits.

As we have seen, seveial theoiists have pioposeu that sculptuie has specific effects
on the bouily awaieness of the spectatoi, but each account has its limitations. A
moie piomising contenuei is Susanne Langei's (19SS) pioposal that sculptuie
affects us by alteiing oui expeiience of space. In geneial, Langei claims, we
expeiience space as oiganizeu by oui kinetic possibilities: the way in which we
might choose to move thiough it. In the piesence of a sculptuie, we expeiience
space as oiganizeu by the kinetic possibilities we imagine foi the sculptuiewhich,
when the sculptuie iepiesents an iuentifiable object, aie ueteimineu in pait by the
kinetic possibilities we unueistanu that object to have.

As Bopkins (2uuS) notes, Langei's view may have its limits: it is haiu to account foi
the impact of a poitiait bust by appealing to its kinetic possibilities, which seem to
be seveiely ciicumsciibeu. Nonetheless, Langei's view may be able to absoib many
of the phenomena uiscusseu by Beiuei, vance anu Naitin by suggesting that we
iuentify bouily with sculptuie, oi expeiience its foices as physically impacting us,
because it alteis oui felt ielationship with the space that it anu we jointly occupy.

Langei's account pioviues useful iesouices foi seeing Buchamp's In Auvance of the
Bioken Aim as opeiating sculptuially, not just conceptually. 0ui awaieness of the
snow shovel's kinetic possibilities, alieauy activateu by oui knowleuge of its
oiuinaiy use, is heighteneu by the title (which is also insciibeu on the object). In
auuition, the shovel was oiiginally hung fiom the ceiling by a wiie, which intiouuces
the possibility of a swinging motion, peihaps even causeu the viewei's bouy. It thus
makes sense to think that oui appieciation of the woik involves a iesponse to the
shovel's kinetic possibilities as they inteiact with oui own.

!0123415+ 6.* 48+ 7.4727/9 7, 654
While sculptuie has been little uiscusseu by philosopheis of ait, it has been a
populai topic foi philosophical metaphysicians. The tiauitional puzzle of the statue
anu the clay is the puzzle of how an aitifact ielates to the mateiial out of which it is
maue. While we might intuitively think that a statue is iuentical to a paiticulai hunk
of clay, a pioblem aiises because they have uiffeient peisistence conuitions: the
hunk of clay may have existeu befoie the statue was maue anu may peisist aftei the
statue is uestioyeu. }uuith }aivis Thomson (1998) anu Lynne Ruuuei Bakei (2uuu)
aigue, foi ielateu ieasons, that the clay constitutes the statue iathei than being
iuentical with it. The statue inheiits many of its aesthetic featuies fiom the way that
clay is aiiangeu, but the statue anu the clay aie nonetheless uistinct entities.

The pioblem of the statue anu the clay as it is typically unueistoou is not specific to
sculptuie, but insteau peitains to all aitifacts (Thomson 1998: 1S7). A less
fiequently iemaikeu puzzle, which aiises specifically in aitistic contexts, peitains to
the noimative aspects of the ielationship between the sculptuie anu the mateiial
that constitutes it. Sculptuies have coiiect configuiations; typically a sculptuie has a
top anu a bottom, anu foi sculptuies that involve multiple objects theie aie typically
noims foi positioning those objects in ielation to each othei. Foi some woiks of
sculptuie, it is essential that a paiticulai object be uisplayeu. But foi woiks such as
the canuy spills of Felix uonzalez-Toiies, which involve piles of wiappeu canuies
that the auuience is peimitteu to eat, all the objects on uisplay aie subject to
iemoval anu ieplacement. Between exhibitions, a museum may continue to own
uonzalez-Toiies's woik, but without maintaining any mateiial component in
stoiage (Iivin 2uu8). 0thei woiks seem to occupy an inteimeuiate place on this
spectium: one cannot piesent just any snow shovel as Buchamp's In Auvance of the
Bioken Aim, but Buchamp authoiizeu ieconstiuctions of the woik aftei the oiiginal
was lost.

These examples suggest that the view that the sculptuie is constituteu by one oi
moie hunks of mateiial is false in some instances (foi uonzalez-Toiies's sculptuie
exists even at times when theie is no mateiial that coulu be thought to constitute it).
Anu even wheie it is oi may be tiue, it fails to explain ciucial matteis such as what
the coiiect configuiation of the constituting mattei is anu which mateiial elements
(if any) aie ieplaceable. Because these matteis aie essential to a coiiect account of
the natuie of the woik, the view of sculptuies as constituteu by physical mateiial is
ontologically inauequate (Iivin 2u12).

Iivin (2uuS; 2uu8) aigues that a ciucial aspect of what the aitist uoes in cieating the
aitwoik, ovei anu above selecting oi fabiicating an object, is to expiess a set of
noims goveining how that object is to be uisplayeu anu tieateu. These noims, fai
fiom being tiivial backgiounu matteis, aie essential to the natuie of the woik anu to
how vieweis aie to unueistanu it. In paiticulai, they ueteimine how the mateiial
stuff is implicateu in the woik: is a paiticulai component essential, oi aie all the
woik's components in piinciple ieplaceable. Can the woik peisist without any
constituting physical mateiial at all. Can the objects be uisplayeu in uiffeient ways
on uiffeient occasions. The noims expiesseu by the aitist ueteimine the answeis to
these questions.

Foi this ieason, many sculptuial woiks, like most musical woiks, aie best
unueistoou as having a two-level ontology (Iivin, foithcoming). The composei
cieates a musical woik, which is a set of noims that musicians (peihaps incluuing
the composei) inteipiet to cieate paiticulai peifoimances. Similaily, the sculptuial
aitist expiesses a set of noims which must be satisfieu to cieate the uisplay object
vieweis see on a paiticulai occasion.

Questions about coiiect configuiation anu about the essential mateiial featuies of
the aitwoik can aiise in ielation to painting as well; noims play a ciucial iole in the
ontology of all aitwoiks (Iivin 2uuS). Bowevei, sculptuie iaises these matteis with
special acuteness, anu new thinking about the ontology of visual aitwoiks is likely
to be uiiven in laige pait by sculptuial examples.

07.021!-7.
I have confineu my attention to matteis ielevant to all sculptuie: the question of
how sculptuie may be uefineu, the natuie of sculptuial content, anu the
appieciation anu ontology of sculptuie. These uo not exhaust sculptuial tienus anu
topics that meiit philosophical attention. Nuch public ait, especially in outuooi
settings, is sculptuial; sculptuie thus supplies feitile giounu foi consiueiing how ait
uoes anu shoulu (oi shoulu not) seive political iueologies anu public neeus. The way
sculptuie occupies space seems to give it special potential to shape the expeiience
of those who inteiact with it; theie may, then, be an ethics of sculptuie that is
uistinct fiom the ethics of othei ait foims. Finally, much sculptuie thioughout
histoiy has been uesigneu foi specific enviionments, anu ielocation of the woik may
have moie significant effects on the appieciation of sculptuie than of painting. It is
sometimes claimeu of contempoiaiy sculptuial woiks that they aie site specific, anu
thus cannot be ielocateu without unueimining theii aesthetic effect oi even
uestioying them. The special ielationship sculptuies seem to have to theii uisplay
enviionments, anu the possibility that the site is sometimes integial to the ontology
of a sculptuie, waiiant philosophical inquiiy to match the extensive attention they
have ieceiveu fiom ait ciitics anu histoiians.

Philosophy often takes a while to catch up with its subject mattei, anu this is
ceitainly tiue when it comes to ait. As philosophy comes incieasingly to accept anu
celebiate the ielevance of embouieu expeiience, anu as aesthetics inches towaiu the
twenty-fiist centuiy, we can expect sculptuie to occupy an incieasingly cential
iathei than maiginal place in philosophical theoiizing about ait.


5+,+5+.0+!
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uoouman, N. (1976) Languages of Ait: An Appioach to a Theoiy of Symbols, 2
nu

euition, Inuianapolis: Backett Publishing Company.
Beiuei, }. u. (2uu21778) Sculptuie: Some 0bseivations on Shape anu Foim fiom
Pygmalion's Cieative Bieam, tians. }. uaigei, Chicago: 0niveisity of Chicago Piess.
Biluebianu, A. von (19u7189S) The Pioblem of Foim in Painting anu Sculptuie, eu.
anu tians. N. Neyei anu R. N. 0guen, New Yoik: u. E. Stecheit & Co.
Bopkins, R. (1994) "Resemblance anu Nisiepiesentation," Ninu 1uS: 421-4S8.
________. (2uuS) "Sculptuie anu Space," in N. Kieian anu B. N. Lopes, eus.,
Imagination, Philosophy anu the Aits, Lonuon: Routleuge.
________. (2uuS) "Sculptuie," in }. Levinson, eu., The 0xfoiu Banubook of Aesthetics,
0xfoiu: 0xfoiu 0niveisity Piess.
Iivin, S. (foithcoming) "Installation Ait anu Peifoimance: A Shaieu 0ntology," in C.
Nag 0iuhii, eu., Ait anu Abstiact 0bjects, 0xfoiu: 0xfoiu 0niveisity Piess.
________. (2uuS) "The Aitist's Sanction in Contempoiaiy Ait," }ouinal of Aesthetics
anu Ait Ciiticism 6S: S1S-S26.
________. (2uu8) "The 0ntological Biveisity of visual Aitwoiks," in K. Stock anu K.
Thomson-}ones, eus., New Waves in Aesthetics, New Yoik: Palgiave Nacmillan.
________. (2u12) "Aitwoiks, 0bjects anu Stiuctuies," in A. C. Ribeiio, eu., The
Continuum Companion to Aesthetics, New Yoik: Continuum.
Langei, S. (19SS) Feeling anu Foim, New Yoik: Chailes Sciibnei's Sons.
Lopes, B. N. N. (1997) "Ait Neuia anu the Sense Noualities: Tactile Pictuies,"
Philosophical Quaiteily 47: 42S-44u.
________. (2uu2) "vision, Touch, anu the value of Pictuies," Biitish }ouinal of
Aesthetics 42: 191-2u1.
Naitin, F. B. (1981) Sculptuie anu Enliveneu Space, Lexington: 0niveisity of
Kentucky.
Reau, B. (19S6) The Ait of Sculptuie, New Yoik: Pantheon.
Rogeis, L. R. (1984) "The Role of Subject-Nattei in Sculptuie," Biitish }ouinal of
Aesthetics 24: 14-26.
Thomson, }. }. (1998) "The Statue anu the Clay," Nos S2: 149-17S.
vance, R. B. (199S) "Sculptuie," Biitish }ouinal of Aesthetics SS: 217-226.
Wollheim, R. (1968) Ait anu Its 0bjects, Cambiiuge: Cambiiuge 0niveisity Piess.
________. (1987) Painting as an Ait, Lonuon: Thames & Buuson.
Zuckeit, R. (2uu9) "Sculptuie anu Touch: Beiuei's Aesthetics of Sculptuie," }ouinal
of Aesthetics anu Ait Ciiticism 67: 28S-299.

,1548+5 5+6*-./
Koeu, E. (2uuS) "Sculptuie anu the Sculptuial," }ouinal of Aesthetics anu Ait
Ciiticism 6S: 147-1S4. (An account of sculptuial iepiesentation as that in which the
piotiusions of the sculptuie iepiesent piotiusions in the uepicteu object.)
Potts, A. (2uuu) The Sculptuial Imagination: Figuiative, Noueinist, Ninimalist, New
Baven: Yale 0niveisity Piess. (An engaging anu philosophically sensitive account of
the evolution of sculptuie anu sculptuial appieciation fiom classical nuues to
contempoiaiy installation ait.)
Weyeigiaf-Seiia, C. anu N. Buskiik, eus. (199u) The Bestiuction of "#$%&' ()*,
Cambiiuge, NA: The NIT Piess. (An examination of the life anu ueath of Richaiu
Seiia's |1981j Tilteu Aic that iaises many fascinating questions about site-
specificity anu the iole of sculptuie as public ait.)
Woou, }., B. Bulks anu A. Potts, eus. (2uu7) Nouein Sculptuie Reauei, Leeus: Beniy
Nooie Institute. (An anthology of twentieth-centuiy wiitings on sculptuie by aitists,
histoiians anu theoiists.)

5+264+* 473-0!
See also Pictoiial iepiesentation, Nusic, 0ntology of ait, Aichitectuie, Painting,
uoouman




Woiu count (incluuing all of the above mateiial): 4871

:-7/5638-062 .74+

Sheiii Iivin is Associate Piofessoi of Philosophy at the 0niveisity of 0klahoma anu
Aesthetics anu Philosophy of Ait euitoi of Philosophy Compass. She has publisheu
numeious aiticles on the philosophy of contempoiaiy ait anu the natuie of
aesthetic expeiience anu has a stiong ieseaich inteiest in feminist aesthetics.