Physical art, as contrasted with
conceptual art, refers to art that
concretely exists in physical
reality, in
space and
time. Its
ontological status is that it is a
physical object. The art is
concretely realized but may be
abstract in nature. For example a painting, sculpture, or performance exists in the physical world. This is contrasted to
conceptual art, some but not all kinds of
performance art,
computer software, or objects of
mathematical beauty, such as a
mathematical proof, which do not exist in the
mental world or in
physical world, but have other ontological status, such as in
Plato's world of
ideals. Here, the art, may be
realized in the physical world, such as a
mathematical proof written on a chalkboard, but refer to objects that
exists in the
mind as
concepts, not physical objects. A
music performance is physical, while the composition, like computer software, is not.