Mimoplastic art (also known as attitudes) is a

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

genre depicting works of art by use of

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...

, especially gestures and draping. Mimoplastic "attitude" is differentiated from the

tableau vivant A (; often shortened to ; plural: ), French for "living picture", is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrica ...

by its imitation of classical sculpture. The genre depicted works of art, particularly classical subjects.

History

It was popularized by

Emma, Lady Hamilton Dame Emma Hamilton (born Amy Lyon; 26 April 176515 January 1815), generally known as Lady Hamilton, was an English maid, model, dancer and actress. She began her career in London's demi-monde, becoming the mistress of a series of wealthy me ...

. Hamilton's art form may have developed after modelling for the painter, George Romney.

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

wrote in 1787, "with a few shawls (she) gives so much variety to her poses, gestures, expressions etc., that the spectator can hardly believe his eyes... This much is certain: as a performance it is like nothing you ever saw before in your life". The art form trended among upperclass European women between 1770 and 1815. They created mimoplastic art in their homes.

Ida Brun Adelaide Caroline Johanne Brun (known as Ida Brun and later as Ida (de) Bombelles; 20 September 1792 – 23 November 1857) was a Danish singer, dancer, and classical mime artist in the genre known as mimoplastic art or "attitude". The literary s ...

's attitudes included background music and narratives. The literary scholar Henning Fenger (1921-1985), stated that Brun's "mimoplastic art captivated Europe". Other notable performers included Henriette Hendel-Schütz and the only male performer of attitudes, Gustav Anton von Seckendorff.

References

{{Nonverbal communication Mime

History

See also

References