Plop Art is a negative term, used to describe Public Art from different genres, like Abstraction, Modernism, or Contemporary Artworks, mostly sculptures, created in the front of office buildings, corporate plazas, parks, and other public venues. The masses did not appreciate Plop Artworks, as they were considered unattractive or unsuitable for their installation places or the related surroundings.
Plop Art - The History:
Alexander Calder's (American - 1898-1976) sculpture 'La Grande Vitesse' set up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1966, is considered as the turning point in the art history. It got a great response and created a huge impact on the city's urban renewal process. Among the mixed reactions, full of criticism and appreciation, the artwork led to the invention of a whole new industry of 'Plop Art.'
The term 'Plop Art' referred to any large object or sculptures placed, mostly inaptly, in the front of public places. Through its intrinsically random tilt, 'Plop Art' shows the ability, creativity, and imagination of the related artists to use a space in a way to dominantly affect (positively or negatively) the local people.
According to Artnet.com, American artist James Wines (born 1932) coined the term Plop Art, in 1969. The term was considered both, progressive and conservative in its relevance. Progressive artists criticized the Public Art because of its inabilities to take an environment-oriented approach for generating a relationship between Public Art and Architecture.
Conservatives liked it because anyone could create anything, even appalling, meaningless, and abstract, requiring no talent and skill. The word "plop" itself is a negative one, meaning flop or something undesirable dangling. In addition, the negative parlance of Plop Art was associated with its creation mostly at public expense.
Conclusion:
Of late, the supporters of public art funding have revived this term. The book Plop: Recent Projects of the Public Art Fund celebrates the success of the Public Art Fund. Public Art Fund is a non-profit organization based in New York. Doris Freedman (1928-81), the then Director of New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs, and the President of the Municipal Art Society, founded it. The organization encourages the works of visual arts throughout the New York City.
It helps commission, install, and exhibit such pieces. Public Art Fund has also helped finance many publicly placed works of art in the recent years. Many of these pieces are now liked, although they were considered as "plopping" at the time of their installation. Many Contemporary Art movements, like the land art, environmental sculpture, and site-specific art, are considered a counter to the Plop Art.
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