{{Short description|Performance art genre depicting works of art by use of mime}}
'''Mimoplastic art''' (also known as '''attitudes''') is a performance genre depicting works of art by use of [[mime]], especially gestures and draping. Mimoplastic "attitude" is differentiated from [[tableaux vivant]] by its imitation of classical sculpture.<ref name="Richter2004">{{cite book|last=Richter|first=Simon J.|title=Goethe Yearbook 12|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=VBjVJbFS0rkC&pg=PA310|date=1 August 2004|publisher=Camden House|isbn=978-1-57113-295-6|pages=310–}}</ref> The genre depicted works of art, particularly classical subjects.<ref name=oxfordreference>{{cite web|title=Attitude and Shawl Dance|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095433269|work=The International Encyclopedia of Dance|publisher=Oxford Reference|accessdate=27 April 2014}}</ref>▼
[[File:Attitudes of Lady Hamilton by Novelli.jpg|frame|right|Emma, [[Lady Hamilton]] made the striking of attitudes into an art form, portraying classical themes such as the [[Judgement of Paris]].]]
▲'''Mimoplastic art''' (also known as '''attitudes''') is a [[performance art]] genre depicting works of art by use of [[mime]], especially gestures and draping. Mimoplastic "attitude" is differentiated from the [[tableauxtableau vivant]] by its imitation of classical sculpture.<ref name="Richter2004">{{cite book|last=Richter|first=Simon J.|title=Goethe Yearbook 12|url=httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=VBjVJbFS0rkC&pg=PA310|date=1 August 2004|publisher=Camden House|isbn=978-1-57113-295-6|pages=310–}}</ref> The genre depicted works of art, particularly classical subjects.<ref name=oxfordreference>{{cite webencyclopedia|title=Attitude and Shawl Dance|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095433269|workencyclopedia=The International Encyclopedia of Dance|publisher=Oxford Reference|accessdate=27 April 2014}}</ref>
==History==
It was popularized by [[Emma, Lady Hamilton]].<ref name="Pulham2008">{{cite book|last=Pulham|first=Patricia|title=Art and the Transitional Object in Vernon Lee's Supernatural Tales|url=httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=3hQlOmlg7QkC&pg=PA70|year=2008|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-5096-6|pages=70–}}</ref> Hamilton's art form may have developed after modelling for the painter, [[George Romney (painter)|George Romney]]. [[Goethe]] 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's is like nothing you ever saw before in your life".<ref name="HatfieldLittman2006">{{cite book|last1=Hatfield|first1=Jackie|last2=Littman|first2=Stephen|title=Experimental Film and Video: An Anthology|url=httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=BfjrTZxmjpwC&pg=PA102|year=2006|publisher=John Libbey Pub.|isbn=978-0-86196-664-6|pages=102–}}</ref> The art form trended among upperclass European women between 1770 and 1815. They created mimoplastic art in their homes.<ref name="Crochunis2004">{{cite book|last=Crochunis|first=Thomas C.|title=Joanna Baillie, Romantic Dramatist: Critical Essays|url=httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=4cIGjwY14BwC&pg=PT212|date=24 February 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-42248-7|pages=212–}}</ref> [[Ida Brun]]'s attitudes included background music and narratives.<ref name="Preston2011">{{cite book|last=Preston|first=Carrie J.|title=Modernism's Mythic Pose: Gender, Genre, Solo Performance|url=httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=BmJ8Had0vLMC&pg=PA264|date=5 September 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-976626-0|pages=264–}}</ref> The literary scholar, [[Henning Fenger]] (1921-1985), stated that Brun's "mimoplastic art captivated Europe".<ref name="Fenger1971">{{cite book|last=Fenger|first=Henning|title=Twayne's world authors series|url=httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=LLk3AAAAIAAJ|year=1971|publisher=Twayne Publishers|page=54}}</ref> Other notable female performers included [[Henriette Hendel-Schütz]] in Germany.<ref name="Carlson2013">{{cite book|last=Carlson|first=Marvin|title=Performance: A Critical Introduction|url=httphttps://books.google.com/books?id=9MJdAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA91|date=16 December 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-49865-7|pages=91–}}</ref> and the only male performer of attitudes, [[Gustav Anton von Seckendorff]].
