Of course minimalism, is what it says it is... a work of art that
has been pared down to include only its essentials. Except, for most
of us, when it gets down to one squiggle on a black background, or a
bunch of white squares on a white background, we wonder why the
artist didn't go all the way and just not do it. A good friend of
mine has a habit of passing a grate or electrical cover panel on the
wall and exclaiming, "Ahhh!...I rather like that one, don't you?" It
is our, now-not-so-private, joke about minimal art.
The original theory, I believe from which the approach came, is
stated by Arnheim, "It is sound artistic principle (known in
science as the principle of parsimony) that the form of any work
should be as simple as its subject permits." (163) Minimalism
has taken cover under the banner of simplicity. Henry Moore's
sculptures are magnificently `simple'. He says "My sculpture is
becoming less representational, less an outward visual copy, and so
what some people would call abstract; but only because I believe
that in this way I can present the human psychological content of my
work with the greatest directness and intensity." (164)
Matisse says some painters "avoid the first impression and
consider it deceptive. A rapid rendering of a landscape represents
only one moment of its appearance. I prefer, by insisting upon its
essentials, to discover its more enduring character and content,
even at the risk of sacrificing some of its pleasing qualities."
(165)
Webster's defines `minimal art' as "abstract art... consisting
primarily of simple geometric forms executed in an impersonal
style." (166) This cannot be compared to Matisse or Moore's highly
personal styles of working.
"What one misses is not the absence of images of people in the
pictures but the absence of a person - an artist - inside of them."
(167)
Thomas Albright
163. Rudolf Arnheim, Toward a Psychology of Art, (Berkeley and L.A.,
Cal., University of California Press, 1966), p.47
164. Herschel B. Chipp, Theories of Modern Art, (Berkeley and L.A.,
Cal., University of California Press, 1968), p.598
165. ibid., p. 133
166. A Merriam - Webster, ed. H.B. Woolf, Webster's New Collegiate
Dictionary, (Springfield, Mass., U.S.A., G & C. Merriam Co.,
1976), p. 732
167. Thomas Albright, On Art and Artists, (U.S.A., The Chronicle
Publishing Co., 1989), p.131
