Glossary of Art Terms - K

Kiln

Kilns are a thermally insulated chambers, or ovens, in which a controlled temperature regimes are produced. They are used to harden, burn or dry materials. Specific uses in Art include: Firing of certain materials to form ceramic materials pottery and sculptures.

Kinetic Art

Kinetic art is sculpture that contains moving parts. The moving parts are generally powered by wind, a motor or the observer's hand. The term kinetic sculpture refers to a class of art made primarily from the late 1950s through 1960s. Kinetic art was first recorded by the sculptors Naum Gabo and Antoine Pevsner in their Realist Manifesto issued as part of a manifesto of constructivism in 1920 in Moscow. "Bicycle Wheel," of 1913, by Marcel Duchamp, is said to be the first kinetic sculpture.

Kitsch

Kitsch is a term of German origin that has been used to categorize art that is considered an inferior copy of an existing style. The term is also used more loosely in referring to any art that is pretentious or in bad taste, and also commercially produced items that are considered trite or crass. Because the word was brought into use as a response to a large amount of art in the 19th century where the aesthetic of art work was associated with a sense of exaggerated sentimentality or melodrama, kitsch is most closely associated with art that is sentimental; however, it can be used to refer to any type of art that is deficient for similar reasons—whether it tries to appear sentimental, glamorous, theatrical, or creative, kitsch is said to be a gesture imitative of the superficial appearances of art. It is often said that kitsch relies on merely repeating convention and formula, lacking the sense of creativity and originality displayed in genuine art.