Minimalism - Influences and Characterisitics

Overview

In the Blog essay, I am going to describe the influences and characteristics of Minimalism.

Minimalism is an extreme form of abstract art that completely removes any form of personal expression from the artwork (Understandingminimalism.com, 2017). Artworks of minimalism are generally composed of simple geometric shapes and simple materials, such as aluminium, plastic or fibreglass. No attempt is made to represent an outside reality. Minimalism has been referred to as ABC art, literal art, rejective art, reductivism and rejective art.  However, the artwork itself is the reality and the artist wants the viewer to respond only to what is in front of them.

Minimalist painter Frank Stella famously said about his paintings ‘What you see is what you see’. Minimalism emerged in the late 1950s when artists such as Frank Stella, began to turn away from the gestural art of the previous generation. It flourished in the 1960s and 1970s with Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, Agnes Martin and Robert Morris becoming the movement’s most important innovators (Tate, 2017). Minimalism was an experiment to discover the essential elements of  art. Personalization was stripped away completely in an attempt to reveal those elements (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1998). I will explain furthur the characteristic of this movement by exploring Donald Judd and his works.

Donald Judd (1928-1994)

Donald Judd was an American artist and critic who switched from painting to sculpture and later developed an interest in architecture. Donald Judd produced Minimalist work while Abstract Expressionism was still dominating the art world. Minimalism dealt solely with materials and space, while Abstract Expressionism focused on intuitive expression. As it emerged as a counterforce to Abstract Expressionism he became one of the movement’s leading artists (Guggenheim, 2017). In the early 1960s Donald Judd abandoned painting, stating that:

"actual space is intrinsically more powerful and specific than paint on a flat surface."

Judd viewed his work in its entirety, not as individual parts. This was the crucial detail which Judd strongly believed in. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017).

Untitled sculptures, 1980–84

Concrete, on the grounds of the Chinati

On this particular site at Chinati, Judd exhibits the strategies which he developed as his artwork became more complex. It was the synergy between the subject, the viewer, and the surroundings produced his works of art . Like other Minimalists of his generation, Judd was engaged with the specific arrangement of industrial materials at particular sites. He created rows of recuring forms and repetition of singular boxlike forms constructed of wood or metal (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). He never considered himself a sculptor but rather as a maker of specific objects (Guggenheim, 2017).

Untitled 1967

Lacquer on galvanized iron, 

Twelve units

Donald Judd created artworks which are similar in form and aesthetic, but he applies different color and material to them, which makes them stand out from one another. Two Untitled vertical stacks are the perfect example of this statement, one constructed in 1967 and the other in 1969. Untitled (1967) is hung on a wall like a painting and each of its twelve units extrudes nearly three feet from the wall. The space around the boxes is just as important as the galvanized iron boxes, all identical and of equal significance. All the parts are covered with commercially available green lacquer paint which typically used to customize Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Judd favored of an overriding system or idea, ignoring traditional craft skills. He wanted his work to feel like an industrial production and in fact, Judd even went as far as to produce his works in a factory to obtain the perfect form. Repetition is a factor that clearly implies this notion. At the same time, the factors which matter the most to Judd were the medium used and the spaces that occupied the reality of his works. Minimalism was a movement that aspired to discover the fundamental ingredients of art.  The artists utilized not the form but the spaces between the forms. Through the elimination of personalization, the artist can discover the essential elements of art.

Untitled 1969

Copper, Ten Units 

References

Encyclopedia Britannica. (1998). Minimalism | art movement. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/Minimalism [Accessed 9 May 2017].

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2008). Donald Judd | American artist and critic. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Donald-Judd [Accessed 29 Apr. 2017].

Guggenheim. (2017). Donald Judd (1928–1994). [online] Available at: https://www.guggenheim.org/arts-curriculum/topic/donald-judd [Accessed 29 Apr. 2017].

Moma.org. (2017). MoMA | Donald Judd. Untitled (Stack). 1967. [online] Available at: https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/donald-judd-untitled-stack-1967 [Accessed 29 Apr. 2017].

Sophia. (2017). Design in Art: Repetition, Pattern and Rhythm. [online] Available at: https://www.sophia.org/tutorials/design-in-art-repetition-pattern-and-rhythm [Accessed 2 May 2017].

Tate. (2004). Untitled 1967-8, Robert Morris 1967-8 | Tate. [online] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/morris-untitled-1967-8-t01185 [Accessed 9 May 2017].

Tate. (2017). Minimalism – Art Term | Tate. [online] Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/m/minimalism [Accessed 2 May 2017].

Understandingminimalism.com. (2017). Introduction to Minimal Art - Understanding Minimalism. [online] Available at: http://understandingminimalism.com/introduction-to-minimal-art/ [Accessed 9 May 2017].