--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We call those works of art concrete that…" description: "\"We call those works of art concrete that came into being on the basis of their inherent resources and rules - without external borrowing from natural p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/max-bill-43673_abstraction_we-call-those-works-of-art-concrete-that_450650.png" --- # We call those works of art concrete that came into being… ![“We call those works of art concrete that came into being on the basis of their inherent resources and rules - without external borrowing from natural phenomena, without transforming those phenomena, in other words: not by abstraction.” quote by Max Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/max-bill-43673_abstraction_we-call-those-works-of-art-concrete-that_450650.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/max-bill-43673_abstraction_we-call-those-works-of-art-concrete-that_450650.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/max-bill-43673_abstraction_we-call-those-works-of-art-concrete-that_450650.png) > “We call those works of art concrete that came into being on the basis of their inherent resources and rules - without external borrowing from natural phenomena, without transforming those phenomena, in other words: not by abstraction.” [Max Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-bill/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author defines concrete art as creations that arise solely from their own materials and rules, without referencing external natural forms or abstractions. **In simple terms:** Art built from its own elements, not from outside references. Key Takeaway Create works that stand on their own material logic. Themes art materialism purity creativity Mood analytical inquisitive Type philosophical theoretical When to use this quote - studio practice - art education - exhibition planning - design process Key Concepts concrete art aesthetic theory Questions to Reflect On - Can art be both pure and evocative? - What does “no borrowing” mean for innovation? A Different Perspective May limit expressive possibilities tied to nature. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art Concrete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-concrete-3933494/) [Bases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bases/) [Basis Inherent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basis-inherent-3933497/) [Borrowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrowing/) [Borrowing Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrowing-natural-3933496/) [Concrete](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concrete/) [Inherent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inherent/) [Inherent Resources](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inherent-resources-3933495/) [Natural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/natural/) [Resources](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resources/) [Transforming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transforming/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [Art is the concrete representation of our most subtle feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-martin/art-is-the-concrete-representation-of-our-most-subtle-feelings/) [Agnes Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-martin/) > [Debtor countries may postpone the inevitable by borrowing from the IMF or U.S. Treasury to buy out bondholders. This saves the latter from taking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/debtor-countries-may-postpone-the-inevitable-by-borrowing-from-the/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [There is a big problem. The problem is the country borrowed too much. We went on a borrowing binge, there was a housing boom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-osborne/there-is-a-big-problem-the-problem-is-the-country-borrowed-too-much/) [George Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-osborne/) > [Debt is a bottomless sea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/debt-is-a-bottomless-sea/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [What I'm concerned about is endless borrowing, which is going to compromise our economy not only today but in the future. Because we know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/what-i-m-concerned-about-is-endless-borrowing-which-is-going-to/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [Borrowing money on what's called 'easy terms,' is a one-way ticket to the Poor House. If you think it ain't a Sucker Game, why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/borrowing-money-on-what-s-called-easy-terms-is-a-one-way-ticket-to/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [Saints and ordinary folks are the same from the start. Inquiring about a difference is like asking to borrow string when you've got a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hsu-yun/saints-and-ordinary-folks-are-the-same-from-the-start-inquiring-about/) [Hsu Yun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hsu-yun/) > [As for borrowing Mr. Whistler's ideas about art, the only thoroughly original ideas I have heard him express have had reference to his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/as-for-borrowing-mr-whistler-s-ideas-about-art-the-only-thoroughly/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Several southern actors are coming to Mumbai. Likewise, many Bollywood actors are appearing down South or borrowing ideas from southern films.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-charan/several-southern-actors-are-coming-to-mumbai-likewise-many-bollywood/) [Ram Charan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-charan/) > [A poet ought not to pick nature's pocket. Let him borrow, and so borrow as to repay by the very act of borrowing. Examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/a-poet-ought-not-to-pick-nature-s-pocket-let-him-borrow-and-so-borrow/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [It’s always going to be easy to live like others or other’s life, because creating or innovating something of own is always difficult in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj/it-s-always-going-to-be-easy-to-live-like-others-or-other-s-life/) [Anuj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj/) > [Perhaps art criticism cannot be reformed in a logical sense because it was never well-formed in the first place. Art criticism has long been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-elkins/perhaps-art-criticism-cannot-be-reformed-in-a-logical-sense-because/) [James Elkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-elkins/) > [By taking out a loan, I am committing myself to years of interest repayments, and therefore to years of wage slavery. And the UK…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/by-taking-out-a-loan-i-am-committing-myself-to-years-of-interest/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [ When the fountains of government \[borrowing\] abundance began to dry up, when through lack of funds and the impossibility of negotiating fresh loans the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-t-flynn/when-the-fountains-of-government-borrowing-abundance-began-to-dry-up/) [John T. Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-t-flynn/) > [I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/i-would-borrow-money-all-day-long-if-the-cost-of-borrowing-is-less/) [Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/) ## More by Max Bill > [Fine art is in the last consequence, philosophy expressed visually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/fine-art-is-in-the-last-consequence-philosophy-expressed-visually/) [Max Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-bill/) > [I endeavor to make a picture, for instance, exert a positive influence on the observer by its coloring, mood, and compositional idea, encouraging, say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/i-endeavor-to-make-a-picture-for-instance-exert-a-positive-influence/) [Max Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-bill/) > [And despite the fact that the basis of this mathematical way of thinking in art is in reason, its dynamic content is able to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/and-despite-the-fact-that-the-basis-of-this-mathematical-way-of/) [Max Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-bill/) > [The orbit of human vision has widened and art has annexed fresh territories that were formerly denied to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/the-orbit-of-human-vision-has-widened-and-art-has-annexed-fresh/) [Max Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-bill/) > [Far from creating a new formalism, what these can yield is something far transcending surface values since they not only embody form as beauty,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/far-from-creating-a-new-formalism-what-these-can-yield-is-something/) [Max Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-bill/) > [Thus, the more succinctly a train of thought was expounded, and the more comprehensive the unity of its basic idea, the closer it would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/thus-the-more-succinctly-a-train-of-thought-was-expounded-and-the/) [Max Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-bill/) > [I made the first Moebius strip without knowing what it was.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/i-made-the-first-moebius-strip-without-knowing-what-it-was/) [Max Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-bill/) > [Even in modern art, artists have used methods based on calculation, inasmuch as these elements, alongside those of a more personal and emotional nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/even-in-modern-art-artists-have-used-methods-based-on-calculation/) [Max Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-bill/) [Explore all 9 Max Bill quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-bill/) ## More Abstraction quotes > [Everything in dancing is style, allusion, the essence of many thoughts and feelings. The abstraction of many moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-ailey/everything-in-dancing-is-style-allusion-the-essence-of-many-thoughts/) [Alvin Ailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-ailey/) > [The premises from which we begin are not arbitrary ones, not dogmas, but real premises from which abstraction can only be made in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/the-premises-from-which-we-begin-are-not-arbitrary-ones-not-dogmas/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [Two elements are needed to form a truth - a fact and an abstraction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/remy-de-gourmont/two-elements-are-needed-to-form-a-truth-a-fact-and-an-abstraction/) [Remy de Gourmont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/remy-de-gourmont/) > [But we must not underestimate the potency of the mathematical process of abstraction. 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Doctors treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-goodfield/cancer-begins-and-ends-with-people-in-the-midst-of-scientific/) [June Goodfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-goodfield/) > [Yes, there was an element of abstraction and unreality in misfortune. But when an abstraction starts to kill you, you have to get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/yes-there-was-an-element-of-abstraction-and-unreality-in-misfortune/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Computer Science is a science of abstraction -creating the right model for a problem and devising the appropriate mechanizable techniques to solve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-aho/computer-science-is-a-science-of-abstraction-creating-the-right-model/) [Alfred Aho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-aho/) > [In 'Self Comes to Mind' I pay a lot of attention to simple creatures without brains or minds, because those 'cartooned abstractions of who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-damasio/in-self-comes-to-mind-i-pay-a-lot-of-attention-to-simple-creatures/) [Antonio Damasio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-damasio/) > [Don't get stuck on the level of words. A word is no more than a means to an end. It's an abstraction. Not unlike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/don-t-get-stuck-on-the-level-of-words-a-word-is-no-more-than-a-means/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [The pragmatist turns away from abstraction and insufficiency, from verbal solutions, from bad a priori reasons, from fixed principles, closed systems, and pretended absolutes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-pragmatist-turns-away-from-abstraction-and-insufficiency-from/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [ I'd say that \[Louis\] Brandeis practiced a kind of a "living originalism," to use the title of Jack Balkin's great book. He said you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-rosen/i-d-say-that-louis-brandeis-practiced-a-kind-of-a-living-originalism/) [Jeffrey Rosen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-rosen/) > [When novels deal in abstractions, they generally go off the rails.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-novels-deal-in-abstractions-they-generally-go-off-the-rails/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) [Browse all 562 Abstraction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstraction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We call those works of art concrete that came into being on the basis of their inherent resources and rules - without external borrowing from natural phenomena, without transforming those phenomena, in other words: not by abstraction.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Max Bill" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/we-call-those-works-of-art-concrete-that-came-into-being-on-the-basis/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abstraction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/we-call-those-works-of-art-concrete-that-came-into-being-on-the-basis/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/max-bill-43673_abstraction_we-call-those-works-of-art-concrete-that_450650.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/max-bill-43673_abstraction_we-call-those-works-of-art-concrete-that_450650.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bcc/max-bill-43673_abstraction_we-call-those-works-of-art-concrete-that_450650.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We call those works of art concrete that came into being on the basis of their inherent resources and rules…” — Max Bill", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Max Bill", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-bill/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We call those works of art...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/we-call-those-works-of-art-concrete-that-came-into-being-on-the-basis/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-bill/we-call-those-works-of-art-concrete-that-came-into-being-on-the-basis/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```