Plasticity

Abstract

Although the expression πλαστική τέχνη [plastic art] has Greek origins, the derivative term “plasticity” enters the European languages only in the Modern Age. The term has a double meaning: it indicates, at the same time, the art of manipulating a ductile substance and the ability to transform oneself to recreate formal qualities in response to external events (positive meaning of plasticity) or to cancel pre-existing formal configurations, originating morphological novelties (negative meaning of plasticity). For this reason, the birthplace of plasticity is the domain of art but the term is used with different connotations also in the morphological, physicochemical and medical fields.