Philippa Smith Nov 10, 2017:

@Holly-Anne That's an interesting thought, but I don't think it's referring to that theory, which looks like it centres on ideas, whereas here it's talking about the more visual sphere of form, as a component of art:
http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/for...

"The form of a work is its shape, including its volume or perceived volume. A three-dimensional artwork has depth as well as width and height. Three-dimensional form is the basis of sculpture.[1] However, two-dimensional artwork can achieve the illusion of form with the use of perspective and/or shading or modelling techniques.[2][3] Formalism is the analysis of works by their form or shapes in art history or archeology."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elements_of_art#Form

Holly-Anne Whyte Nov 10, 2017:

Plato reference? Just a thought, but could this possibly be alluding to Plato's Theory of the Forms. If it is, I have no idea how you would convey that.