Plastics in the Modern World by E. G. Couzens, V. E. Yarsley (review)

Books-Liures 371 Plastics as an Art Form. Thelma R. Newman. Sir Isaac Pitman, London, 1967. 338 pp., illus. 90s. Reviewed by :Norman Narotzky* It is indisputable that the invention of oil painting and its development by the van Eycks in the fifteenth century changed the course of art history. The new medium opened possibilities to the artist that could not be realized before. Tempera is quick drying and relatively brittle. It therefore demands a rigid support in order to avoid cracking and a precise technique in which blending and modelling are usually achieved by means of fine hatching. The rigid support made large-sized easel paintings impractical because of the great weight that would result. The meticulous technique was not conducive to big paintings either, as it would take too long to cover large surfaces. Oil painting changed this. Its flexibility permitted working on canvas, which allowed for large, lightweight , easily transportable paintings that could be rolled if necessary. The medium itself permitted more freedom in handling, with great depth and transparency through glazing as well as broad brushwork and thick impastos. The discovery and development of plastics as a medium for artists in this century has already had a profound effect on art which promises to be even more revolutionary than that provoked by oil painting, especially since it concerns sculpture as well as painting. In painting, plastics can imitate oil, tempera and watercolor, aswell asachieveeffectsthat are peculiar to it alone. Its main advantages are rapid drying, permitting the artist to work layer over layer to attain rich effectsin a short time. Its great flexibility allows the building up of heavy impastos that the oil painter would not dream of using. Its flexibility and great binding power also permit the addition of foreign materials, such as sand and marble dust for textures, and paper and other materials for collages or assemblages. In sculpture, plastics permit modelling, direct carving and casting, as well as a host of other techniques that cannot be used with other materials. It has its own special qualities and can be worked in new ways to achieve unique results in, for example,color, transparency, lightness and strength. Plastics as an Art Form is one of the most comprehensive books in its field. Mrs. Newman, an artist, teacher and expert in plastics, ranges widely over the whole subject. She covers the various materials such as polyesters, epoxy, acrylics, vinyls, polystyrene, polyethylene, silicones,pyroxylin, ethyl silicate and foams. She also discusses various methods of working with these materials, such as laminating, casting, foaming and molding. Many of her instructions are illustrated with step by step photographs thathelptoclarifythe explanations and enable one to follow them. Unfortunately, some- * Corcega 196,Barcelona, Spain. times her directions are not complete or detailed enough to permit one to work successfully with the medium. Her instructions on painting with ethyl silicate, for example, omit vital information on treating the surface of the ground before beginning work, and those on someof the other painting media, such as pyroxylin are quite summary. On the whole she is better on sculpture than on painting. Among the several hundred illustrations are many reproductions of works by different artists, some in color, giving an idea of the many possibilities offered by plastics. Also included are charts listing various plastics and their properties, a bibliography, glossary of terms and an appendix containing information about industrial processing of plastics, health and safety factors, sources of supply in Great Britain and trade names for different types of plastics and their manufacturers. The bibliography could have been brought up to data when the book was reprinted in 1967, as, since its first publication in 1965, there have been several good books on painting with acrylics, which could be of interest to artists looking for more completeinformation onthe subject than they can find here [1-41. Despite its shortcomings, this is probably the most complete overall coverage of the field and a most valuable reference for all artists interested in using plastics and, especially, for sculptors. REFERENCES 1. R. 0.Woody, Painting with Synthetic Media (New York: Reinhold, 1965). 2. J. GutiCrrez and N. Roukes, Painting with Acrylics (New York: Watson-GuptilPublications, 1965...