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Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art, especially
visual art and music, where the work is
stripped down to its most fundamental features. In other fields of art, it has been used to describe the plays of Samuel Beckett, or the films of Robert Bresson, or the stories of Raymond Carver, for example.
Minimalism in visual art
A minimalist painting, for example, will typically use a limited number of
colours, and have a simple geometric design. A characteristic of much minimalist work
is that it is designed to direct the viewers attention toward the physical situation in which the art object is placed, as
opposed to the imaginary realm "inside" the artwork that the viewer occupies when looking, for example, at a traditional,
pictorial, painting. Notable minimalists in the visual arts are Frank
Stella, Donald Judd and Carl Andre (See List of minimalist
artists).
Musical minimalism
In classical 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 subtle variation over long periods of time) or stasis (often in the form of drones and long
tones); emphasis on consonant harmony; a steady pulse. It is almost inseparable, currently, from electronic music and
composition. See also: Minimal music
It should be noted that the minimalist movement in music bears only an occasional relationship to the movement of the same
name in visual art. This connection is probably one reason why many minimalist composers dislike the term. Philip Glass, whose group initially performed at art galleries where his minimalist
visual artist friends were showing, reportedly said of minimalism, "That word should be stamped out!". Apart from Philip Glass,
Steve Reich is arguably the most famous minimalist composer.
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