1. MINIMALISM
What you see is what you see.

2. Robert Smithson—Mirror Stratum, 1966

3. Dan Flavin—Untitled (for you, Leo, in long respect and affection) 3, 1978

4. Alan Sonfist—Earth Monument to Chicago, 1965-1977

5. Characteristics of Minimalism
 Primarily sculpture
 Geometric forms
 Industrially produced
 Non-referential
 Materials appear as materials
 No distracting colors
 Gallery and viewer are part of the piece

6. Social and Political Background
 Minimalism was a product of its time
 Mass-production
 Media
 Conflicts between capitalism and democracy
 1960s—a time of radical upheaval and blurring of
boundaries
 “End” of Minimalism
 Artbusiness
 Conservative backlash

7. Artistic Context
 Minimalism is a reaction to abstract expressionism
 Rejected romantic exuberance and self-celebration
 Pop Art expanded the art world
 Shared characteristics
 Popularized art

8. Reactions to Minimalism
 “Recentness of Sculpture”—Clement Greenberg
 Minimalism was confusing innovation with novelty
 “Novelty Art” has nothing to do with art
 “Art and Objecthood”—Michael Fried
 Minimalism was challenging modernism

9. Frank Stella
 Parallel
 Order
 Denied illusion
 Stripes

10. Frank Stella—The Marriage of Reason and Squalor, 1959

11. Frank Stella—Union I, 1966

12. Frank Stella—Darabjerd I, 1968

13. Donald Judd
 "A shape, a volume, a color, a surface is something
itself. It shouldn't be concealed as part of a fairly
different whole."
-Donald Judd

14. Donald Judd Continued
 Space and Dimension
 Rectangular Plane
 Order
 Monochrome

15. Donald Judd—Untitled (Stack), 1967

16. Donald Judd—Untitled, 1966

17. Robert Morris
 “Simplicity of shape does not necessarily equate
with simplicity of experience.”
-Robert Morris

18. Robert Morris Continued
 Danced before becoming a sculptor
 Interested in process of production and perceiving
 “Notes on Sculpture Parts 1 & 2” (1966)
 Sculpture as Gestalt
 Focus on relationship between viewer, space, and sculpture,
rather than relationships within a piece
 Avoids projection of human nature onto art

19. Robert Morris—Green Gallery (Plywood Show), 1964

20. Robert Morris—Untitled (L-beams), 1965

21. Carl Andre
 “My work is atheistic, materialistic, and communistic.
It is atheistic because it is without transcendent form,
without spiritual or intellectual quality. Materialistic
because it is made out of its own materials without
pretension to other materials. And communistic
because the form is equally accessible to all men.”
-Carl Andre

22. Carl Andre Continued
 Used pre-fabricated materials
 Unconnected arrangement of individual elements
within each piece
 Limitation to relatively simple shapes
 Sculpture as place
 Elements are indistinguishable from raw materials

23. Carl Andre—144 Magnesium Square, 1969

24. Carl Andre—Sphinges, 1985

25. Sol Lewitt
 “The most interesting characteristic of the cube is
that it is relatively uninteresting.”
-Sol Lewitt

26. Sol Lewitt Continued
 Geometrical progression through modular
structures
 Based on repetition, permutation, and serial
formulas
 Simplified past industrial material—focus on
concepts and systems

27. Sol Lewitt—Open Modular Cube, 1966

28. Sol Lewitt—HRZL 1,1990

29. Dan Flavin
 “One might not think of light as a matter of fact,
but I do. And it is, as I said, as plain and open and
direct an art as you will ever find.”
-Dan Flavin

30. Dan Flavin Continued
 Limited materials to standard fluorescent light
 Emphasis on physical space and light
interaction
 Has industrial qualities but is impermanent
 Saw himself as a “maximalist”

31. Dan Flavin–“monument" 1 for V. Tatlin, 1964

32. Dan Flavin—Untitled (for Donna), 1971

33. Influence of Minimalism
 Minimalism spurred paradigm shifts
 Art no longer had to be a unique object created by an
artist
 Reinvented sculpture
 Broadened definition and rules of art
 Closed gap between high culture and mass culture