Material Significance: The materials that artists use when they make a work of art influences both form and content.
- What is it made of? What does this process involve? Is there a reason the material might be significant?
- the material was popular at the time
- the material was cheap and accessible, or expensive and a status symbol
- the material has conceptual significance (religious, thematic, → the material supports the idea of the piece)
Material significance can be addressed differently depending on the time period the artwork was created.
Contemporary artists are faced with a wide array of media for art-making. With mixed media, found objects, installations, everything, and anything that could be considered media/material for art-making. With this comes questions: "how do we discern the artwork’s materials and their role in the identity of the work?" (Gordon).
Gordon, R. (2013) Material significance in contemporary art. ArtMatters: International Journal for Technical Art History, 5, pp. 1-10.