plastico

English translation: plastic

14:03 Oct 12, 2018
Italian to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Materials (Plastics, Ceramics, etc.) / Woodworking
Italian term or phrase: plastico
The text is about eidetic categories and the author is describing in the first person her discovery that as she looks at the grain of the wood she knows that the different lines of the grain have meaning. In Italian:

"Il legno è un testo visivo plastico"
Enrica Frulla
United States
Local time: 22:59
English translation:plastic
Explanation:
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/plastic
"being able to create, especially within an art form; having the power to give form or formal expression"
the plastic imagination of great poets and composers.

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Note added at 1 hr (2018-10-12 15:14:11 GMT)
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"Wood is a plastic, visual 'text'...". I don't think there is anything wrong with keeping the word "text", since the author is talking about the meaning of the various lines. My point is that "plastic" is commonly used in art texts, and here could even be used for effect.
Selected response from:

Fiona Grace Peterson
Italy
Local time: 22:59
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1plastic
Fiona Grace Peterson
4expressive
philgoddard
3pliable
Linda Thody


  

Answers


18 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
expressive


Explanation:
See Fiona's definition.
You could say "expressive visual medium". I think this is better than "text", which sounds a bit pretentious when applied to a lump of wood, but it's up to you.

philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
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5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
plastic


Explanation:
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/plastic
"being able to create, especially within an art form; having the power to give form or formal expression"
the plastic imagination of great poets and composers.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2018-10-12 15:14:11 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Wood is a plastic, visual 'text'...". I don't think there is anything wrong with keeping the word "text", since the author is talking about the meaning of the various lines. My point is that "plastic" is commonly used in art texts, and here could even be used for effect.

Fiona Grace Peterson
Italy
Local time: 22:59
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  philgoddard: I agree with your interpretation, but I think it sounds a bit weird to describe wood as plastic :-)
10 mins

agree  Tom in London
10 mins
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21 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
pliable


Explanation:
Sorry to be so late.
I understand "plastico" to mean the wood is pliable, pliant, workable, shapable... And as we are talking about eidetic categories, “testo visivo”, to me, is a mental image/picture:

(The) wood is a pliable image in my mind’s eye


Linda Thody
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:59
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
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