Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design. It came out as a result of other types of art. It is similar to abstract expressionism in that they are both abstract. Minimalism is literally about the materials being used and the flatness of these materials. It is the purest form of painting through the materials; these pure forms represent nothing but the form itself. These works appear as if they are manufactured or factory made.
An example of this use of minimalism is Pablo Picasso. He looked at the subject from all angles and investigated the idea of form. He manipulated the idea of space in his paintings. These types of paintings can be hard because it is difficult to know how you feel about it or how you respond to the abstractness of it.
In Robert Ryman’s opinion, the purpose of art is to give pleasure. One doesn’t need to know the story behind the painting to receive this feeling of pleasure. He also notes that the painting has to look easy, like “it just happened,” even if it was hard. He tests the paints before using them on his painting as well; before he began painting he never considered white a color. He now finds several uses for the color white in his paintings. I found this to be interesting because most people consider white a shade rather than a color. It is intriguing to see how people do not pay attention to these intricate details regarding art. I think it is interesting that once Ryman figures out all of these uses for the color white, just how he uses them and uses light to affect the way this white color is portrayed in his paintings. Ryman states he is not involved in an art movement, but he is simply working on the visual experience.
Another type of art we discussed is performance arts. This type of art requires control of the mind in order to perform. Many of these performances connect to social culture. The performing arts are defined as the actions of a person or group at a particular place or at a particular time. There are four sub-elements of performance art. These are time, space, body and the relationship of the performer to the performance. These performances are not usually rehearsed, they are improvised creating this aspect of curiosity and the unknowing. It creates adrenaline in both the performer and the audience.
Chris Burden is a performance artist that deals a lot with body art and endurance things with performance art. In 1974 he did a piece called “Transfixed,” where he nailed himself to the back of a Volkswagen. He has also done other things where he has had people shoot him and he has laid out in the sun with a book on him to get an impression of the book on his body. His performances can connect the idea of ritual as part of a life culture.
Another performance artist who believes theatre is fake and the performance arts are real is Marina Abramovic. She is constantly testing her limits to transform herself. She takes the energy from her audience and transforms it. She explains that not performing is just as intense as performing. She is constantly putting hard work into her acts. Abramovic explains that it comes down to dedication, endurance and determination. What you are seeing in her performances is art; as an artist this is what she does. Her work takes a lot of time but not a lot is happening. She notes it is impossible to actually explain what she does as a performance artist.
The performing arts are different than any of the other types of art we have discussed thus far. I find it to be so different yet so intriguing because of its unique nature. I never thought of this idea of using your body as art like Burden does as a way of performing. I also find it interesting that Abramovic describes herself as a boring person naturally and does a performance where she sits there for 700 hours. I cannot imagine doing any of these things personally, especially the performances where these artists inflict pain upon themselves willingly. I find a connection to this kind of art because as an athlete I understand the concept of working until your body is so overtired that you don’t know how it is even functioning anymore and testing your body and pushing it past its usual limits. But even as hard as I think swimming is, some of these performances still blew my mind.
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