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Minimalism in visual art, sometimes called "minimal art", "literalist art",[5] and "ABC Art",[6] refers to a specific movement of artists that emerged in New York in the early 1960s in response toabstract expressionism.[7] Examples of artists working inpainting that are associated with Minimalism includeNassos Daphnis,Frank Stella,Kenneth Noland,Al Held,Ellsworth Kelly,Robert Ryman, and others; those working insculpture includeDonald Judd,Dan Flavin,David Smith,Anthony Caro, and others. Minimalism in painting can be characterized by the use of thehard edge, linear lines, simple forms, and an emphasis on two dimensions.[7] American minimalist artists were heavily influenced by earlier European abstract movements. During that time, New York was hosting exhibitions of the GermanBauhaus artists, RussianConstructivists, and DutchDe Stijl artists. Radical abstraction was invented by each of these groups, and they encouraged artists such asRobert Morris,Dan Flavin, andDonald Judd to pursue new artistic trajectories. In order to provide the audience with an instantaneous, purely visual reaction, these artists sought to produce art that had no references to anything other than itself. In order to expose the objective, visual components of art, the subjective, gestural components were removed.[8] Minimalism in sculpture can be characterized by very simple geometric shapes often made of industrial materials likeplastic,metal,aluminum,concrete, andfiberglass;[7] these materials are usually left raw or painted a solid color.
Minimalism was in part a reaction against the painterly subjectivity ofAbstract Expressionism that had been dominant in theNew York School during the 1940s and 1950s.[9] Dissatisfied with the intuitive and spontaneous qualities ofAction Painting, and Abstract Expressionism more broadly, Minimalism as an art movement asserted that a work of art should not refer to anything other than itself and should omit any extra-visual association.[10]
Donald Judd's work was showcased in 1964 atGreen Gallery in Manhattan, as were Flavin's first fluorescent light works, while other leading Manhattan galleries likeLeo Castelli Gallery andPace Gallery also began to showcase artists focused on minimalist ideas.
Michael Fried called the minimalist artistsliteralists, and usedliteralism as apejorative due to his position that the art should delivertranscendental experience[15] withmetaphors,symbolism, andstylization. In Fried's (controversial) view, the literalist art needs a spectator to validate it as art: an "object in a situation" only becomes art in the eyes of an observer. For example, for a regular sculpture its physical location is irrelevant, and its status as a work of art remains even when unseen.Donald Judd's pieces (see photo), on the other hand, are just objects sitting in the desert sun waiting for a visitor to discover them and accept them as art.[16]
The term minimalism is also used to describe a trend indesign andarchitecture, wherein the subject is reduced to its necessary elements.[17] Minimalist architectural designers focus on effectively using vacant space, neutral colors, and eliminating decoration,[18] emphasizing materiality, tactility, texture, weight, and density.[19] Minimalist architecture became popular in the late 1980s in London and New York,[20] whereby architects and fashion designers worked together in the boutiques to achieve simplicity, using white elements, cold lighting, and large spaces with minimal furniture and few decorative elements.
The works ofDe Stijl artists are a major reference: De Stijl expanded the ideas of expression by meticulously organizing basic elements such as lines and planes.[21] In 1924, TheRietveld Schroder House was commissioned byTruus Schröder-Schräder, a precursor to minimalism. The house emphasizes its slabs, beams and posts reflecting De Stijl's philosophy on the relationship between form and function.[21] With regard to home design, more attractive "minimalistic" designs are not truly minimalistic because they are larger, and use more expensive building materials and finishes.[22]
330 North Wabash in Chicago, a minimalist building by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Minimalistic design has been highly influenced byJapanese traditional design and architecture.[23] There are observers[who?] who describe the emergence of minimalism as a response to the brashness and chaos of urban life. For example, minimalist architecture began to gain traction in 1980s Japan as a result of the country's rising population and rapid expansion of cities.[citation needed] The design was considered an antidote to the "overpowering presence of traffic, advertising, jumbled building scales, and imposing roadways."[24] The chaotic environment was not only driven by urbanization, industrialization, and technology but also the Japanese experience of constantly having to demolish structures on account of the destruction wrought by World War II and the earthquakes, including the calamities it entails such as fire. The minimalist design philosophy did not arrive in Japan by way of another country, as it was already part of the Japanese culture rooted on the Zen philosophy. There are those who specifically attribute the design movement to Japan's spirituality and view of nature.[25]
ArchitectLudwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) adopted the motto "Less is more" to describe his aesthetic.[a] His tactic was one of arranging the necessary components of a building to create an impression of extreme simplicity—he enlisted every element and detail to serve multiple visual and functional purposes; for example, designing a floor to also serve as the radiator, or a massive fireplace to also house the bathroom. DesignerBuckminster Fuller (1895–1983) adopted the engineer's goal of "Doing more with less", but his concerns were oriented toward technology and engineering rather than aesthetics.[26]
The concept of minimalist architecture is to strip everything down to its essential quality and achieve simplicity.[27] The idea is not completely without ornamentation,[28] but that all parts, details, and joinery are considered as reduced to a stage where no one can remove anything further to improve the design.[29]
The considerations for 'essences' are light, form, detail of material, space, place, and human condition.[30] Minimalist architects not only consider the physical qualities of the building. They consider the spiritual dimension and the invisible, by listening to the figure and paying attention to details, people, space, nature, and materials,[31] believing this reveals the abstract quality of something that is invisible and aids the search for the essence of those invisible qualities—such as natural light, sky, earth, and air. In addition, they "open a dialogue" with the surrounding environment to decide the most essential materials for the construction and create relationships between buildings and sites.[28]
In minimalist architecture, design elements strive to convey the message of simplicity. The basic geometric forms, elements without decoration, simple materials, and the repetitions of structures represent a sense of order and essential quality.[32] The movement of natural light in buildings reveals simple and clean spaces.[30] In the late 19th century as the arts and crafts movement became popular in Britain, people valued the attitude of 'truth to materials' with respect to the profound and innate characteristics of materials.[33] Minimalist architects humbly 'listen to figure', seeking essence and simplicity by rediscovering the valuable qualities in simple and common materials.[31] The core purpose of minimalist architecture is to declutter a space, while making it more functional and adding a sense of calmness and serenity to it, making it visually harmonious. The three principles that architects tend to follow while designing minimalist spaces are one in, one out rule, zone wise organisation, and the 90/90 rule.[34]
Ryōan-ji dry garden. The clay wall, which is stained by age with subtle brown and orange tones, reflects "wabi" and the rock garden "sabi", together reflecting the Japanese worldview or aesthetic of "wabi-sabi".[35]
The idea of simplicity appears in many cultures, especially the Japanese traditional culture ofZen Buddhist philosophy. Japanese manipulate the Zen culture into aesthetic and design elements for their buildings.[36] This idea of architecture has influenced Western society, especially in America since the mid-18th century.[37] Moreover, it inspired the minimalist architecture in the 19th century.[29]
Zen concepts of simplicity transmit the ideas of freedom and essence of living.[29] Simplicity is not only an aesthetic value, it has a moral perception that looks into the nature of truth and reveals the inner qualities and essence of materials and objects.[38] For example, thesand garden inRyōan-ji temple demonstrates the concepts of simplicity and the essentiality from the considered setting of a few stones and a huge empty space.[39]
The Japanese aesthetic principle ofMa refers to empty or open space. It removes all the unnecessary internal walls and opens up the space. The emptiness of spatial arrangement reduces everything down to the most essential quality.[40]
The Japanese aesthetic ofwabi-sabi values the quality of simple and plain objects.[41] It appreciates the absence of unnecessary features, treasures a life in quietness, and aims to reveal the innate character of materials.[42] For example, the Japanese floral art ofikebana has the central principle of letting the flower express itself. People cut off the branches, leaves, and blossoms from the plants and only retain the essential part of the plant. This conveys the idea of essential quality and innate character in nature.[43]
The Japanese minimalist architectTadao Ando conveys the Japanese traditional spirit and his own perception of nature in his works. His design concepts are materials, pure geometry, and nature. He normally uses concrete or natural wood and basic structural form to achieve austerity and rays of light in space. He also sets up a dialogue between the site and nature to create relationship and order with the buildings.[44] Ando's works and the translation of Japanese aesthetic principles are highly influential on Japanese architecture.[25]
Another Japanese minimalist architect,Kazuyo Sejima, works on her own and in conjunction withRyue Nishizawa, asSANAA, producing iconic Japanese Minimalist buildings. Credited with creating and influencing a particular genre of Japanese Minimalism,[45] Sejimas delicate, intelligent designs may use white color, thin construction sections and transparent elements to create the phenomenal building type often associated with minimalism. Works includeNew Museum (2010) New York City, Small House (2000) Tokyo, and House surrounded By Plum Trees (2003) Tokyo.
In Vitra Conference Pavilion, Weil am Rhein, 1993, the concepts are to bring together the relationships between building, human movement, site, andnature. Which as one main point of minimalism ideology that establish dialogue between the building and site. The building uses the simple forms of circle and rectangle to contrast the filled and void space of the interior and nature. In the foyer, there is a large landscape window that looks out to the exterior. This achieves the simple and silence of architecture and enhances the light, wind, time, and nature in space.[46]
John Pawson is a British minimalist architect; his design concepts are soul, light, and order. He believes that though reduced clutter and simplification of the interior to a point that gets beyond the idea of essential quality, there is a sense of clarity and richness of simplicity instead of emptiness. The materials in his design reveal the perception toward space, surface, and volume. Moreover, he likes to use natural materials because of their aliveness, sense of depth and quality of an individual. He is also attracted by the important influences from Japanese Zen Philosophy.[47]
Calvin Klein Madison Avenue,New York, 1995–96, is a boutique that conveys Calvin Klein's ideas of fashion. John Pawson's interior design concepts for this project are to create simple, peaceful and orderly spatial arrangements. He used stone floors and white walls to achieve simplicity and harmony for space. He also emphasises reduction and eliminates the visual distortions, such as the air conditioning, and lamps, to achieve a sense of purity for the interior.[48]
Alberto Campo Baeza is a Spanish architect and describes his work as essential architecture. He values the concepts of light, idea, and space. Light is essential and achieves the relationship between inhabitants and the building. Ideas are to meet the function and context of space, forms, and construction. Space is shaped by the minimal geometric forms to avoid decoration that is not essential.[49]While both minimalist and contemporary minimalism stress simplicity, there are some significant differences. Minimalism emphasizes only the essentials and employs simple, large-sized components in less amounts. Modern minimalism, on the other hand, uses more decorative pieces. While modern minimalism includes eye-catching forms, minimalist designs tend to emphasize geometric shapes and straight lines. Another difference is space; modern minimalism permits trendy items, while minimalist environments are open and empty. While modern minimalism incorporates colorful, seductive elements that accentuate the modern aesthetic while keeping a neutral color scheme, minimalist furniture is necessary and practical. Although simplicity is emphasized in both forms, modern minimalism adds trends and gives places a more lively vibe. It is easier to differentiate between the two types when one is aware of these distinctions.[50]
Literary minimalism is characterized by an economy with words and a focus on surface description. Minimalist writers eschew adverbs and prefer allowing context to dictate meaning. Readers are expected to take an active role in creating the story, to "choose sides" based on oblique hints and innuendo, rather than react to directions from the writer.[51][52]
Austrian architect and theorist Adolf Loos published early writings about minimalism inOrnament and Crime.[53]
Some 1940s-era crime fiction of writers such asJames M. Cain andJim Thompson adopted a stripped-down, matter-of-fact prose style to considerable effect; some[who?] classify this prose style as minimalism.
Another strand of literary minimalism arose in response to themetafiction trend of the 1960s and early 1970s (John Barth,Robert Coover, andWilliam H. Gass). These writers were also sparse with prose and kept a psychological distance from their subject matter.[59]
American poets such asWilliam Carlos Williams, earlyEzra Pound,Robert Creeley,Robert Grenier,Aram Saroyan,[84]BpNichol, andGeof Huth are sometimes identified with theirminimalist style.[52] Aram Saroyan, specifically, is famous for his one-word poem "lighght", which was selected forThe American Literary Anthology and received a $750 cash award from theNational Endowment for the Arts, which drew outrage from certain conservative American politicians, such asJesse Helms.[85] BpNichol, a Canadian poet, is famous for such minimalist poems as "st*r", "em ty", and "groww". These minimalist poems were collected into an anthology of BpNichol's works, entitledThe Alphabet Game, edited byDarren Werschler-Henry andLori Emerson.[86] Geof Huth also creates minimalist poetry, and he may be best known for his concept of the pwoermd, the term he uses to describe a poem made up of only a single word.[87][88] Depending on the characteristics of the poem, some minimalist poetry may overlap with what others call visual poetry, especially if the concept behind the poem is enhanced by its visual elements. The term "minimalism" is also sometimes associated with the briefest of poetic genres,haiku, which originated in Japan, but has been domesticated in English literature by poets such asNick Virgilio,Raymond Roseliep, andGeorge Swede.[citation needed]
The Irish writerSamuel Beckett is well known for his minimalist plays and prose, as is the Norwegian writerJon Fosse.[89]
In his novelThe Easy Chain,Evan Dara includes a 60-page section written in the style of musical minimalism, in particular inspired by composerSteve Reich. Intending to represent the psychological state (agitation) of the novel's main character, the section's successive lines of text are built on repetitive and developing phrases.[citation needed]
However, the roots of minimal music are older. In France,Yves Klein allegedly conceived hisMonotone Symphony (formallyThe Monotone-Silence Symphony) between 1947 or 1949[96] (but premiered only in 1960), a work that consisted of a single 20-minute sustained chord followed by a 20-minute silence.[97][98]
The Minimalists – Joshua Fields Millburn, Ryan Nicodemus, and Matt D'Avella – directed and produced the filmMinimalism: A Documentary,[102] which showcased the idea of minimal living in the modern world.
Thecapsule wardrobe is an example of minimalism infashion. Constructed of only a few staple pieces that do not go out of style, and generally dominated by only one or two colors, capsule wardrobes are meant to be light, flexible, and adaptable, and can be paired with seasonal pieces when the situation calls for them.[103] The modern idea of a capsule wardrobe dates back to the 1970s, and is credited to London boutique owner Susie Faux. The concept was further popularized in the next decade by American fashion designerDonna Karan, who designed a seminal collection of capsule workwear pieces in 1985.[104]
Awarming stripes timeline graphic portrayingglobal warming[105] in the industrial era, with blues indicating cooler years and reds indicating warmer years. Warming stripes graphics are deliberately devoid of scientific or technical indicia, for ease of understanding by non-scientists.[106]
To portrayglobal warming to non-scientists, British climate scientistEd Hawkins developedwarming stripes graphics in 2018 that are deliberately devoid of scientific or technical indicia, for ease of understanding by non-scientists.[106] Hawkins explained that "our visual system will do the interpretation of the stripes without us even thinking about it".[107]
Warming stripe graphics resemblecolor field paintings, stripping out all distractions and using only color to convey meaning.[108] Color field pioneer artistBarnett Newman said he was "creating images whose reality is self-evident", an ethos that Hawkins is said to have applied to the problem of climate change and leading one commentator to remark that the graphics are "fit for theMuseum of Modern Art or theGetty."[108]
Atempestry—aportmanteau of "temperature" and "tapestry"—is a tapestry using stripes of specific colors of yarn to represent respective temperature ranges.[109] The tapestries visually represent global warming occurring at given locations.[109]
In a lifestyle adopting minimalism, there is an effort to use materials which are most essential and in quantities that do not exceed certain limits imposed by the user themselves. There have been many terms evolved from the concept, like minimalist decors, minimalist skincare, minimalist style, minimalist accessories, etc. All such terms signify the usage of only essential products in that niche into one's life. This can help one to focus on things that are important in one's life. It can reduce waste. It can also save the time of acquiring the excess materials that may be found unnecessary.[110][111]
A minimalist lifestyle helps to enjoy life with simple things that are available without undue efforts to acquire things that may be bought at great expenses.[112] Minimalism can also lead to less clutter in living spaces.[113]
^Fried, Michael (June 1967). "Art and Objecthood".Artforum. Vol. 5. pp. 12–23. Reprinted:"Art and Objecthood".Art and Objecthood: Essays and Reviews. University of Chicago Press. 1998. pp. 148–172.ISBN0-226-26318-5.
^Davidow, Shelley (2016).Playing with Words A Introduction to Creative Craft. Paul Williams. London: Macmillan Education UK. p. 90.ISBN978-1-137-53254-1.OCLC1164505442.
^Harris, Charles B. (15 March 2014). "The Anxiety of Influence: The John Barth/David Foster Wallace Connection".Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction.55 (2): 104.doi:10.1080/00111619.2013.771905.
^Gale, Cengage Learning (2016).A Study Guide for Ann Beattie's ""Janus"". Farmington Hills: Gale, Cengage Learning.ISBN978-1-4103-5001-5.OCLC956647072.
^Spectator (6 December 2018)."The Birth of Minimalism".Archived from the original on 3 June 2023. Retrieved3 June 2023., but note that although this article claims that Nyman's article was "The Origin of Minimalism", that word appears nowhere in the text
^Gilbert Perlein & Bruno Corà (eds) & al.,Yves Klein: Long Live the Immaterial! ("An anthological retrospective", catalog of an exhibition held in 2000), New York: Delano Greenidge, 2000,ISBN978-0-929445-08-3, p.226Archived 28 July 2023 at theWayback Machine: "This symphony, 40 minutes in length (in fact 20 minutes followed by 20 minutes of silence) is constituted of a single 'sound' stretched out, deprived of its attack and end which creates a sensation of vertigo, whirling the sensibility outside time."
Bertoni, Franco (2002).Minimalist Architecture, edited by Franco Cantini, translated from the Italian by Lucinda Byatt and from the Spanish by Paul Hammond. Basel, Boston, and Berlin: Birkhäuser.ISBN3-7643-6642-7.
Cerver, Francisco Asencio (1997).The Architecture of Minimalism. New York: Arco.ISBN0-8230-6149-3.
Lancaster, Clay (September 1953). "Japanese Buildings in the United States before 1900: Their Influence upon American Domestic Architecture".The Art Bulletin.35 (3):217–224.doi:10.1080/00043079.1953.11408188.
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