Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features. The visual arts are art forms that focus on the creation of works which are primarily Visual in nature such as Painting, Photography Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. As a specific movement in the arts it is identified with developments in post-World War II Western Art, most strongly with American visual arts in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with this movement include Donald Judd, Carl Andre and Richard Serra. Donald Clarence Judd ( June 3, 1928 - February 12, 1994) was a minimalist Artist (a term he stridently disavowed Carl Andre (born September 16, 1935) is an American minimalist Artist. Richard Serra (born November 29, 1939) is an American minimalist sculptor and Video artist known for working with large It is rooted in the reductive aspects of Modernism, and is often interpreted as a reaction against Abstract Expressionism and a bridge to Postmodern art practices. Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Abstract expressionism was an American post– World War II Art movement. Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism
The term has expanded to encompass a movement in music which features repetition and iteration, as in the compositions of Steve Reich, Philip Glass, John Adams, and Terry Riley. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3 WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Philip Glass (born January 31 John Coolidge Adams (born February 15 1947 is an American Composer with strong roots in minimalism. Terry Riley (born June 24 1935) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school (See also Postminimalism). Postminimalism is a term utilized in various artistic fields for work which is influenced by or attempts to develop and go beyond the aesthetic of Minimalism.
The term "minimalist" is often applied colloquially to designate anything which is spare or stripped to its essentials. It has also been used to describe the plays of Samuel Beckett, the films of Robert Bresson, the stories of Raymond Carver, and even the automobile designs of Colin Chapman. A play, or stageplay, is a form of Literature written by a Playwright, almost always consisting of Dialogue between Fictional characters Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989 was an Irish Writer, Dramatist and poet Robert Bresson (ʁɔbɛʁ bʁɛˈsɔ̃ in French ( September 25, 1901 &ndash December 18, 1999) was a French Film director Raymond Clevie Carver Jr ( May 25, 1938 &ndash August 2, 1988) was an American Short story Writer Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman ( 19 May 1928 - 16 December 1982) was an influential British designer inventor and builder in the automotive
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Musical minimalism
The Other Side
In art music of the last 35 years, the term minimalism is sometimes applied to music which displays some or all of the following features: repetition (often of short musical phrases, with minimal variations over long periods of time, ostinati) or stasis (often in the form of drones and long tones); emphasis on consonant harmony; a steady pulse; hypnotic effect; sometimes use of phase shifting where sound waves gradually move out of sync with each other. Art music (or serious music or erudite music) as defined by Jacques Siron is an umbrella term generally used to refer to musical traditions implying advanced structural Minimalist music can sometimes sound similar to different forms of electronic music (e. g. Basic Channel), as well as the texture-based compositions of composers such as Gyorgy Ligeti; it is often the case that the end result is similar, but the approach is not. Basic Channel is a minimal techno production team and record label composed of Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus that originated in Berlin, Germany
The term minimalism, endowed independently by composer-critics Michael Nyman and Tom Johnson, has been controversial, but was in wide use by the mid-1970s. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes American Composer and critic Tom Johnson (born November 18, 1939 in Greeley Colorado) is one of the few composers to self-identify as The application of a visual art term to music has been protested; however, not only do minimalist sculpture and music share a certain spare simplicity of means and an aversion to ornamental detail, but many of the early minimalist concerts happened in connection with exhibits of minimalist art by Sol LeWitt and others. Sol LeWitt ( September 9, 1928 - April 8, 2007) was Several composers associated with minimalism have disavowed the term, notably Philip Glass, who has reportedly said, "That word should be stamped out!!"[1]
A recent form of minimalistic music, Minimal techno, a sub-genre of Techno music, is characterized by a stripped-down, glitchy sound, simple 4/4 beats (usually around 120-135 BPM), repetition of short loops, and subtle changes. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Philip Glass (born January 31 Minimal techno is a form of Electronic dance music (EDM that is considered a minimalist sub- Genre of Techno.
Minimalist design
The term minimalism is also used to describe a trend in design and architecture where in the subject is reduced to its necessary elements. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (ˈlʊdvɪç miːs faːn dɛʀ ˈʀoːɐ born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies ( March 27, 1886 &ndash August 17, 1969 The Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, was the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia Design is used both as a Noun and a Verb. The term is often tied to the various Applied arts and Engineering (See design disciplines The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation Minimalist design has been highly influenced by Japanese traditional design and architecture. In addition, the work of De Stijl artists is a major source of reference for this kind of work. For the album by The White Stripes see De Stijl (album. De Stijl (in English, generally də ˈstaɪl after style; from the De Stijl expanded the ideas that could be expressed by using basic elements such as lines and planes organized in very particular manners.
Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe adopted the motto "Less is more" to describe his aesthetic tactic of arranging the numerous necessary components of a building to create an impression of extreme simplicity, by enlisting every element and detail to serve multiple visual and functional purposes (such as designing a floor to also serve as the radiator, or a massive fireplace to also house the bathroom). Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (ˈlʊdvɪç miːs faːn dɛʀ ˈʀoːɐ born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies ( March 27, 1886 &ndash August 17, 1969 Designer Buckminster Fuller adopted the engineer's goal of "Doing more with less", but his concerns were oriented towards technology and engineering rather than aesthetics. Richard Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller ( July 12, 1895 &ndash July 1, 1983) was an American Architect, Author A similar sentiment was industrial designer Dieter Rams' motto, "Less but better", adapted from van der Rohe. Dieter Rams (born May 20 1932 in Wiesbaden) is a German Industrial designer closely associated with the consumer products company Braun The structure uses relatively simple elegant designs. The structure's beauty is also determined by playing with lighting, using the basic geometric shapes as outlines, using only a small number of like shapes for design unity, using tasteful non-fussy bright color combinations, usually natural textures and colors, and clean and fine finishes. May use color brightness balance and contrast between surface colors to improve visual aesthetics. The structure would usually have industrial and space age style utilities (lamps, stoves, stairs, etcetera), neat and straight components (like walls or stairs) that appear to be machined with machines, flat or nearly flat roofs, pleasing negative spaces, and large windows. This and science fiction may have contributed to the late twentieth century futuristic architecture design, and modern home decor. Modern minimalist home architecture with its unnecessary internal walls removed may have led to the popularity of the open plan kitchen and living room style.
Another modern master who exemplifies reductivist ideas is Luis Barragan. Luis Barragán Morfin ( Guadalajara, March 9 1902 - Mexico City, November 22 1988) is considered the most important In minimalism, the architectural designers pay special attention to the connection between perfect planes, elegant lighting, and careful consideration of the void spaces left by the removal of three-dimensional shapes from an architectural design. The more attractive looking minimalist home designs are not truly minimalist, because these use more expensive building materials and finishes, and are relatively larger.
Contemporary architects working in this tradition include John Pawson, Eduardo Souto de Moura, Alvaro Siza, Tadao Ando, Alberto Campo Baeza,Yoshio Taniguchi, Peter Zumthor, Vincent Van Duysen, Claudio Silvestrin, Michael Gabellini, and Richard Gluckman. John Pawson (born 6 May 1949 in Halifax, Yorkshire) is a British Architect and Designer associated with Minimalism Eduardo Elísio Machado Souto de Moura (born on July 25, 1952 in Porto) is a Portuguese Architect. Álvaro Joaquim de Melo Siza Vieira, GOSE, GCIH, (born 25 June 1933 in Matosinhos) is a Japanese Architect whose approach to Architecture was once categorised as Critical regionalism. Alberto Campo Baeza (b Valladolid, 1946 is a Spanish Architect. Yoshio Taniguchi (谷口吉生 Taniguchi Yoshio; born 1937 is a Japanese architect best known for his redesign of the Museum of Modern Art in New Peter Zumthor (born 26 April, 1943) is a Swiss Architect, considered one of the most important in the world [2]
Minimalism in visual art
Minimalism in visual art, sometimes referred to as "literalist art"[3] and "ABC Art"[4] emerged in New York in the 1960s. It is regarded as a reaction against the painterly forms of Abstract Expressionism as well as the discourse, institutions and ideologies that supported it. As artist and critic Thomas Lawson noted in his 1977 catalog essay Last Exit: Painting, minimalism did not reject Clement Greenberg's claims about Modernist Painting's reduction to surface and materials so much as take his claims literally. Thomas Lawson may refer to Thomas Lawson a fullback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team Thomas Lawson (military physician, Surgeon Minimalism was the result, even though the term "minimalism" was not generally embraced by the artists associated with it, and many practitioners of art designated minimalist by critics did not identify it as a movement as such.
In contrast to the Abstract Expressionists, Minimalists were influenced by composer John Cage, poet William Carlos Williams, and architect Frederick Law Olmsted. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> John Milton Cage Jr William Carlos Williams ( 17 September 1883 &ndash 4 March 1963) was an American poet closely associated with modernism Frederick Law Olmsted ( April 25, 1822 &ndash August 28, 1903) was an American landscape designer and father of American They very explicitly stated that their art was not self-expression, in opposition to the previous decade's Abstract Expressionists. In general, Minimalism's features included: geometric, often cubic forms purged of all metaphor, equality of parts, repetition, neutral surfaces, and industrial materials.
Robert Morris, an influential theorist and artist, wrote a three part essay, "Notes on Sculpture 1-3," originally published across three issues of Artforum in 1966. In these essays, Morris attempted to define a conceptual framework and formal elements for himself and one that would embrace the practices of his contemporaries. These essays paid great attention to the idea of the gestalt- "parts. . . bound together in such a way that they create a maximum resistance to perceptual separation. " Morris later described an art represented by a "marked lateral spread and no regularized units or symmetrical intervals. . . " in "Notes on Sculpture 4: Beyond Objects," originally published in Artforum, 1969, continuing to say that "indeterminacy of arrangement of parts is a literal aspect of the physical existence of the thing. ” The general shift in theory of which this essay is an expression suggests the transitions into what would later be referred to as Post-Minimalism.
One of the first artists specifically associated with Minimalism was the painter, Frank Stella, whose early "stripe" paintings were highlighted in the 1959 show, "16 Americans", organized by Dorothy Miller at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Frank Stella (born May 12, 1936) is an American painter and Printmaker. The width of the stripes in Frank Stellas's stripe paintings were determined by the dimensions of the lumber, visible as the depth of the painting when viewed from the side, used to construct the supportive chassis upon which the canvas was stretched. The decisions about structures on the front surface of the canvas were therefore not entirely subjective, but pre-conditioned by a "given" feature of the physical construction of the support. In the show catalog, Carl Andre noted, "Art excludes the unnecessary. Frank Stella has found it necessary to paint stripes. There is nothing else in his painting. " These reductive works were in sharp contrast to the energy-filled and apparently highly subjective and emotionally-charged paintings of Willem De Kooning or Franz Kline and, in terms of precedent among the previous generation of abstract expressionists, leaned more toward less gestural, often somber coloristic field paintings of Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko. Willem de Kooning (April 24 1904 – March 19 1997 was an Abstract expressionist painter born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands Franz Kline ( May 23, 1910 – May 13, 1962) was an American painter mainly associated with the Abstract Expressionist Barnett Newman ( January 29, 1905 &ndash July 4, 1970) was an American Artist. Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz ( Latvian: Marks Rotko; September 25, 1903 &ndash February 25, 1970 Although Stella received immediate attention from the MOMA show, artists like Ralph Humphrey and Robert Ryman had begun to explore monochromatic formats by the late 50's. Robert Ryman (born May 30, 1930) is an American painter identified with the movements of Monochrome painting, Minimalism, and
Because of a tendency in Minimalism to exclude the pictorial, illusionistic and fictive in favor of the literal, there was a movement away from painterly and toward sculptural concerns. Donald Judd had started as a painter, and ended as a creator of objects. His seminal essay, "Specific Objects" (published in Arts Yearbook 8, 1965), was a touchstone of theory for the formation of Minimalist aesthetics. In this essay, Judd found a starting point for a new territory for American art, and a simultaneous rejection of residual inherited European artistic values. He pointed to evidence of this development in the works of an array of artists active in New York at the time, including Jasper Johns, Dan Flavin and Lee Bontecou. Of "preliminary" importance for Judd was the work of George Ortman[1], who had concretized and distilled painting's forms into blunt, tough, philosophically charged geometries. These Specific Objects inhabited a space not then comfortably classifiable as either painting or sculpture. That the categorical identity of such objects was itself in question, and that they avoided easy association with well-worn and over-familiar conventions, was a part of their value for Judd.
In a much more broad and general sense, one might, in fact, find European roots of Minimalism in the geometric abstractions painters in the Bauhaus, in the works of Piet Mondrian and other artists associated with the movement DeStijl, in Russian Constructivists and in the work of the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brâncuşi. Geometric abstraction is a form of Abstract art based on the use of simple geometric forms placed in non-illusionistic space and combined into non-objective compositions ("House of Building" or "Building School" is the common term for the, a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts and was famous Constructivism was an Artistic and architectural movement in Russia from 1919 onward which rejected the idea of " Art for art's sake " Constantin Brâncuşi, ( February 19, 1876 &ndash March 16, 1957) konstanˈtin brɨnˈkuʃʲ was an internationally renowned Romanian
This movement was heavily criticised by high modernist formalist art critics and historians. Some anxious critics thought Minimalist art represented a misunderstanding of the modern dialectic of painting and sculpture as defined by critic Clement Greenberg, arguably the dominant American critic of painting in the period leading up to the 1960s. The most notable critique of Minimalism was produced by Michael Fried, a Greenbergian critic, who objected to the work on the basis of its "theatricality". Michael Fried (born 1939 New York City) is an influential Modernist art critic and art historian In Art and Objecthood (published in Artforum in June 1967) he declared that the Minimalist work of art, particularly Minimalist sculpture, was based on an engagement with the physicality of the spectator. He argued that work like Robert Morris's transformed the act of viewing into a type of spectacle, in which the artifice of the act observation and the viewer's participation in the work were unveiled. Fried saw this displacement of the viewer's experience from an aesthetic engagement within, to an event outside of the artwork as a failure of Minimal art. Fried's opinionated essay was immediately challenged by artist Robert Smithson in a letter to the editor in the October issue of Artforum. Smithson stated the following: "What Fried fears most is the consciousness of what he is doing--namely being himself theatrical. "
Other Minimalist artists include: Richard Allen, Walter Darby Bannard, Larry Bell, Ronald Bladen, Mel Bochner, Norman Carlberg, Erwin Hauer, Sol LeWitt, Brice Marden, Agnes Martin, Jo Baer, John McCracken, Paul Mogensen, David Novros, Ad Reinhardt, Richard Serra, Tony Smith, Robert Smithson, and Anne Truitt. Richard Allen (1933 - 1999 was an American Minimalist Abstract Systems, Fundamental and Geometric painter Walter Darby Bannard (born September 23, 1934 in New Haven CT also known as Darby Bannard is an American abstract painter Larry Bell (born in 1939 in Chicago Illinois) is a contemporary American artist and sculptor Mel Bochner (born 1940 is an American Conceptual artist Mr Bochner received his BFA in 1962 and honorary Doctor of Fine Arts in 2005 from the Norman Carlberg (full name Norman Kenneth Carlberg) American Sculptor and Printmaker, was born in 1928 in Roseau, Minnesota Erwin Hauer (b1926 is an Austrian born American Sculptor who studied first at Vienna 's Academy of Applied Arts and later under Josef Albers Sol LeWitt ( September 9, 1928 - April 8, 2007) was Brice Marden (born October 15, 1938) is an American artist, generally described as Minimalist, although his work defies specific Agnes Martin ( March 22, 1912 &ndash December 16, 2004) was a Canadian - American painter, often referred to as Jo Baer, born 1929 is an American artist identified as a pioneer in Minimalist art John McCracken (b 1934 Berkeley California) is an American artist Adolph Dietrich Friedrich Reinhardt ( "Ad" Reinhardt) ( December 24, 1913 &ndash August 30, 1967) was an Richard Serra (born November 29, 1939) is an American minimalist sculptor and Video artist known for working with large Tony Smith ( September 23, 1912 &ndash December 26, 1980) was an American Sculptor, Visual artist, and a noted Robert Smithson ( January 2, 1938 – July 20, 1973) was an American Artist famous for his Land art. Anne Truitt (1921-2004 was a major American artist of the mid-20th century she is associated with both Minimalism and Color Field artists like Morris Louis
Ad Reinhardt, actually an artist of the Abstract Expressionist generation, but one whose reductive all-black paintings seemed to anticipate minimalism, had this to say about the value of a reductive approach to art: 'The more stuff in it, the busier the work of art, the worse it is. More is less. Less is more. The eye is a menace to clear sight. The laying bare of oneself is obscene. Art begins with the getting rid of nature. '
Also notable are the Postminimalist artists, including Eva Hesse, Martin Puryear, Joel Shapiro and Hannah Wilke. Postminimalism is a term utilized in various artistic fields for work which is influenced by or attempts to develop and go beyond the aesthetic of Minimalism. Eva Hesse ( January 11, 1936 - May 29, 1970) was a German-born American sculptor known for her pioneering work in Martin Puryear (born May 23, 1941) is an African Joel Shapiro (born 1941 New York City, New York) is an American Sculptor renown for his dynamic work composed of simple rectangular shapes Hannah Wilke (born Arlene Hannah Butter, March 7, 1940 — January 28, 1993) was an American painter, Sculptor
Literary minimalism
Literary minimalism is characterized by an economy with words and a focus on surface description. Minimalist authors eschew adverbs and prefer allowing context to dictate meaning. Readers are expected to take an active role in the creation of a story, to "choose sides" based on oblique hints and innuendo, rather than reacting to directions from the author. The characters in minimalist stories and novels tend to be unexceptional; they may be pool supply salespeople or second tier athletic coaches rather than famous detectives or the fabulously wealthy. Generally, the short stories are "slice of life" stories. A slice of life story is a category for a story that portrays a "cut-out" sequence of events in a character's life
Some 1940s-era crime fiction of writers such as James M. Cain and Jim Thompson adopted a stripped-down, matter-of-fact prose style to considerable effect; some classifiy this prose style as minimalism. James Mallahan Cain ( July 1, 1892 &ndash October 27, 1977) was an American Journalist James Myers Thompson ( September 27, 1906, Anadarko, Oklahoma Territory - April 7, 1977, Los Angeles, California
Another strand of literary minimalism arose in response to the meta-fiction trend of the 1960s and early 1970s (John Barth, Robert Coover, and William H. Gass). Metafiction is a literary term for a type of Fiction that systematically and self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction including the relationship between fiction and John Simmons Barth (born May 27 1930 is an American novelist and short-story writer known for the postmodernist and metafictive quality of his work Robert Lowell Coover (born February 4, 1932) is an American author and professor in the Literary Arts program at Brown University. William Howard Gass (born July 30, 1924) is an American Novelist Short story writer Essayist Critic, and former These writers were also spare with prose and kept a psychological distance from their subject matter.
Minimalist authors, or those who are identified with minimalism during certain periods of their writing careers, include the following: Raymond Carver, Chuck Palahniuk, Bret Easton Ellis, Ernest Hemingway, K.J. Stevens, Amy Hempel, Bobbie Ann Mason, Tobias Wolff, Grace Paley, Sandra Cisneros, Mary Robison, Frederick Barthelme, Richard Ford and Alicia Erian. Raymond Clevie Carver Jr ( May 25, 1938 &ndash August 2, 1988) was an American Short story Writer Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk (ˈpɑːlənɪk born February 21 1962) is an American Transgressional fiction Novelist Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964 in Los Angeles California) is an American author. Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21 1899 — July 2 1961 was an American novelist short-story writer, and Journalist. KJ Stevens (born June 4, 1973) is an American Novelist and Short story writer. Amy Hempel (born December 14, 1951) is an American Short story writer Journalist, and university Professor at Brooklyn Bobbie Ann Mason is an American novelist short story writer essayist and literary critic Tobias Jonathan Ansell Wolff (born June 19, 1945, in Birmingham, Alabama) is a Writer of Fiction and Nonfiction Grace Paley ( December 11 1922 – August 22 2007) was an American Short story writer poet and Political Sandra Cisneros (born December 20 1954 is a Chicana author and Poet best known for her Novel The House on Mango Street. Mary Robison (January 14 1949 is an American short-story writer and novelist Fredrick Barthelme (born October 10 1943 is an American Author of short fiction and Novels and a professor at The University of Southern Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is a Pulitzer Prize -winning American Novelist and Short story writer
American poets such as William Carlos Williams, early Ezra Pound, Robert Creeley, Robert Grenier, and Aram Saroyan are sometimes identified with their minimalist style. William Carlos Williams ( 17 September 1883 &ndash 4 March 1963) was an American poet closely associated with modernism Ezra Weston Loomis Pound ( Hailey, Idaho Territory, United States October 30 1885 – Venice, Italy November 1 1972 was an American Expatriate Robert Creeley ( May 21, 1926 &ndash March 30 2005) was an American Poet and Author of more than sixty books Robert Grenier (born in Minneapolis Minnesota on August 4, 1941 &ndash) is a contemporary American poet who is often associated with the Aram Saroyan (born September 25, 1943) is an American Poet, Novelist, Biographer, Memoirist and Playwright
The Irish author Samuel Beckett is also known for his minimalist plays and prose. Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989 was an Irish Writer, Dramatist and poet
Notes
- ^ PhilipGlass.com � Music in Twelve Parts
- ^ Holm, Ivar (2006). Ideas and Beliefs in Architecture and Industrial design: How attitudes, orientations, and underlying assumptions shape the built environment. Oslo School of Architecture and Design. ISBN 8254701741.
- ^ Fried, M. "Art and Objecthood", Artforum, 1967
- ^ Rose, B. "ABC Art", Art in America, 1965.
See also
- Minimalism (computing)
- Worse is better
- Modular constructivism
- Formalism (art)
- Geometric abstraction
- Shaped canvas
- Minimal Techno
- List of minimalist artists
- Stuckism
- Linguistic minimalism
- Minimalist music
Dictionary
minimalism
-noun
- (art) A style of art that emphasises extreme simplicity of form.
- (music) A style of music that emphasises extreme simplicity of rhythms and melodic forms to achieve a trancelike effect.
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