integrative concepts

Artistic synthesis

Description:
The uniting of different art forms into an artistic whole. An example is architecture combined with monumental art (e.g. elaborate war memorials) enhanced by moral painting and sculpture. Other examples are historic monuments presented under theatrical lighting with narrative, music (e.g. the pyramids) and dance (e.g. Greek amphitheatres) or other performances. The secular synthesis of plastic and performing arts was partly carried out in the evolution of the theatre and the music drama but as these became democratized and dependent on popular support the financial conditions required for permanent theatrical stage architecture, sculpture and design generally became unsustainable. However the religious uses of artistic synthesis continue and are exemplified by public worship where there is a rich liturgy, sacred music and formal movements in a physically aesthetic environment which may include special lighting, flower arrangements, symbolic architecture and placement of furnishings, ornamented vestments for celebrants, censing and visual art. The ultimate opportunity for artistic synthesis in permanent form may lie in new city planning, with aesthetic considerations not only applying to new city structures but also to dynamics, i.e. human behaviours.