Impact Of Minimalism Art Movement Has On Art Community During 1960s -1970s - Research Paper Example

? Lecturer: ‘Impact of minimalism art movement has on art community during 1960s -1970s’ The dawn of 1960s sawthe emergence of a new phenomenon in the art industry: Minimalism. A concept with strange and unusual elements as one would expect of any ordinary art work. There cannot be any design without a designer; the individuals who trail blazed in this field or whose works, in the strict sense of the word, can be termed as minimalistic art are people like Donald Judd, Carl Andre, Robert Morris, Sol Lewitt and Dan Flavin (Marzona p7). What then is minimalism? Strickland, 2000, 7 defines minimalism as a movement, primarily in post war America towards an art-visual, musical, literary or otherwise- that makes its statements with limited if not the fewest possible resources. Though as Marzona argues, the term minimalism is confined to the visual arts with a major focus on painting. The movement did make a profound a impression on art that was to be seen years later. In artistic sense, it implies using limited materials to create a desired effect, which is, pure and simple. This is created by eliminating the non-essentials features, firms or concepts. In general, minimalism art movement does include synopsis, key ideas, artworks, artist about resources. This study therefore focuses on how the minimalists, even though they did not want to be labeled as such, impacted on art and the art community with their minimalistic art activities. The minimalism movement did start in the 1960s, as earlier stated, in the United States and the process influenced the modern art as exemplified in such works as painting, sculpture and installation. During the time of its inception, minimal artists desired to have their respective artworks to be enjoyed without disruptions of the conventional aesthetic field. They focused on descriptions like color, and geometric structures and shapes. It is worth noting that the work of the minimalists did transform not only the way art was being viewed but it also elevated the social status of the discipline in the society. A look at each of the minimalists’ works confirms and sheds more light into the elements and purpose of the minimalism art movement. Donald Clarence Judd is one among the leading artists who contributed immensely to this field. Scheldahi et al p 212 confirms that Judd is the renowned figure behind minimalism, even though he renounced the label and preferred to be known as the ‘maker of objects’ The man credited for having revolutionized art during his time especially in the 1960s and left an impression which was to stay long after he had gone. A Masters Degree graduate in Art History from the University of Columbia, Judde’s work of art has been described as one which is unique and as Scheldahi et al puts it, his work is unfailing elegance even lapidary in a grandiose sort of a way. The major contributions of Jude, notes Arts Foundation, were in the forms of ‘stacks’, ‘boxes’ and ‘progressions’. One such work is untitled, which Arts Connected 2012 confirms became Jude’s trademark. It was simple and austere. Through this, he challenges the viewer to consider the concepts of boredom, monotony and repetition. He used an artistic style that moved away from illusionism but focused on constructions in which materiality is a key central part to the owners work. Thus Jude’s work of art would be described as one which was created using real materials in real space (Arts Connected 2012). His works bring closer home the understanding of the relationship between art and space. Marzoma notes, as does other writers in this field, the transition of Jude from being a painter to a sculptor. Concrete, plywood, galvanized steel and aluminum are some of the key ingredients in Jude’s recipe in articulating an effective minimalist sculptor. The Green Gallery exhibitions of Jude’s pieces of art work in 1963 appear to have catapulted him to the limelight of the international scene as a renowned minimalist. 12th of February 1994 marked the end of the road for the sexagenarian painter, sculptor and successful writer. His ideas and works though remain and hitherto, continue to send waves of aesthetic vibrations into the cool sea of the art community. Along with other minimalists, Carl Andre’s works contributed immensely to this discipline. Just like Jude, the label minimalist didn’t auger well with him and he preferred to be called a ‘matterist’, alluding to the fact that his sculpture is an exploration of the properties of nature. The Arts Story Foundation 2012, writes that Andres contribution was majorly to divorce sculpture from the processes of carving and modeling but instead create art that involved sorting and placing.. Example of such arts included public artworks as the stone field sculptures. Andre did leave a legacy in the art industry with his sculptural works, one which was to be and is the basic foundation for subsequent artists in this field. Sol Lewitt also managed to cut himself a niche in the minimalist art, earning his name a place in the history of arts. He was linked with conceptual art and minimalism. His fame was witnessed during the year 1960s with drawings in walls and structures, his work was prolific in the area of drawings, painting, photography and print making. His pieces of art work display a sharp contrast to those of other minimalists. Unlike Jude and Andre, Lewitt employed traditional materials like wood as opposed to industrial materials. He also believed that the artist was the originator of ideas and this was a core tool in transforming art to what it is today (TASF 2012). Minimalism has been recognized on many fronts, and has seen its tentacles spread to various levels of the society. It has become part of modern day Lingua franca, as part of mass culture that has taken on its own. Minimalism has widened its influence on architecture, fine arts, and design and craft movements. It has also spread to rock music, the concept of ‘make it pure and simple’ means that the art should emphasis on shapes and materials by making them to be plain, pure and simple as possible. Minimalism means using a user-centric approach to all things, either through paintings on canvas, designing cars and computer software’s. The aim is to try and support users when accomplishing their tasks. The powerful impact of minimalism is on artistic mentality. Minimalism helps in communication sector by developing discrete tools that will help to filter large exaggerated quantity of information’s. The movement can also be used to limit noise in our minds by having fewer and simpler artistic elements that offer space for imaginations (Kleiner 2010 p 984). . The artistic movement led to a number of minimalist artists who would rather typically use limited pattern of colors that have a simplified geometric design. Minimalism has also encouraged people who want to engage in artistic work to think, perceive and behave in a particular direction. More so, minimalism has had a great impact in various forms of art and music due to its simplicity and uniqueness of its structure and techniques which include static harmony, repetition, addictive process and phase shifting. Silence is used in modern times in music this is an example of minimalist music (Schjeldahl et al 2004 p 180) In conclusion, the works of the minimalists during the period under discussion had far reaching effects to both the art industry and community .Even though the proponents shied away from the label, it’s worth noting that they helped transform the shape of art and elevated the discipline to higher social levels in the society. Hitherto, its principles are still being applied and are alive and forms part of contentment of the current artistic works. Works cited Daniel Marzona. Minimal Art: Taschen .New York: Taschen, 2004. Print Fred S, Kleiner. Gardner’s Art through the Ages: a Global History. Belmont: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. http://www.artsconnected.org/artsnetmn/whatsart/judd.html http://www.theartstory.org/artist-judd-donald.htm Peter Schjeldahl, Malin W, Powell. Lanan Series: Selected Writings of Peter Schjeldahl, 1978-1990.Berkerly, Alameda: California UP, 1991. Print. The Art Story Foundation. Donald Jude.2012. Web. 13 Nov 2012. Read More