...Pop art was not the only an alternative to Abstract Expressionism advanced in the 1960s. A group of serious, intellectual artists who were disgusted with the emotional outpourings of the Abstract Expressionists and the vulgarity of Pop Art began to make high minded and refined art known as known as Minimalism. Minimalist art is stripped down to the essentials, or as one artist said: What you see is what you see, it is painting and sculptures that are self sufficient and have no subject matter, content, or meaning beyond their presence as objects in space. Lauded by some as a return to purity and high ideals, other called Minimalism the end of art. What was occurring was a replay of a battle that we have seen before, the battle among Romanticism, Realism, and classicism, now in the arena of nonrepresentational and Pop Art. On one side, one again was the defenders of emotions and expressiveness, on another, ordinary life, and on the third, purity and logic. Donald Judd was one of the foremost creators and theorists of minimalism. As an art critic in New York City, the Missouri born Judd became concerned that art made it difficult to perceive reality. It bothered him that, while contemplating works of art, viewers are inevitably drawn into illusion, emotions not their own, and references to the past. The only way to reconnect the viewer with reality, Judd felt, was to produce works of art with no expressive techniques, free of associations, that could be, seen to be simply what...
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...Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features. The term "minimalist" is often applied colloquially to designate anything which is spare or stripped to its essentials .The terms have expanded to encompass a movement in music which features repetition and iteration. As a specific movement in the arts it is identified with developments in post-World War II Western Art, most strongly with American visual arts in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with this movement include Donald Judd, John McLaughlin, Robert Morris . Effortless, unfussy, unadorned, and powerfully understated, stark minimalist style is one of few fashion trends that works for virtually all women of any age, shape, or social occupation. There's something extremely confident and uncomplicated about this unpretentious look, which showcases a woman's shape, face, and personality, without any need to distract the eye with ornamental embellishments or patterns. Minimalism is a way of life that means simplicity. It is not so aggressive in comparison with ego centric life and believes in simple procedure for life. In minimalism the leading force is delicacy of feelings. It proffers easy structures, simplicity, self-assurance, and a straightforward philosophy, which leads to satisfaction. Minimalism living style has been around for thousands of years but its popularity increased...
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...Easy: The Millennial Minimalism Series from Huffington Post by Liz Kavdanovsky, the Minimalism is a new form of lifestyle, “living life in its purest form. To think that the key is as simple as simplifying life is a refreshing revelation, to say the least”. Similar to what Kavdanovsky expresses in her essay, Minimalism is a form of life, which pursues the elimination of useless or unrelated things and only focusing on the essential parts of every aspect of life, for sake of the simplification and simplicity of life. This Minimalism is now a new, trending form of living for the most happiness, which is most supported by young Millennials. According to the article, The Fall of Materialism: Why More Millennials Aspire to Have Nothing, now many new...
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...American couple and the Italians in the first paragraph of the short story? 3. What does the setting tell about the mood of the short story? And provided that the setting is used as a mirror of the characters' state of mind, what can we infer about the characters' emotional state? Task 3: In groups Points of wonder * Discuss the points of wonder that you have identified while reading the short story. Take turns to present your points of wonder. * Choose one point of wonder and attempt to give an answer that is supported by the text. * Attempt to determine the possible symbolical meaning of the cat. Task 4: In groups Minimalist characteristics and type of narrator * Using the list of "Characteristics of Minimalism", pp. 20-21 in your compendium, please identify at least four typically minimalist aspects of the text. Be as precise as possible: Quote...
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...suggest that conclusions drawn and critical judgments passed have been hasty, and not only failed to take into account the formal aspects of story-telling, but that the narrative features of Palahniuk’s text have largely went unexplored, and constitute a blind spot of the reception. Critics condemning or acclaiming the novel, and, indeed, many a cultic reader of Palahniuk ignored Fight Club as a literary narrative, and have inadvertently been repeating the catchphrases of the text, either reinforcing or trying to undermine what they have understood as their meaning. I see the significance of Palahniuk’s fiction and the literary event of Fight Club’s publication in somewhat different terms. Palahniuk’s emphasis and continued insistence on minimalism suggest that his fiction is properly understood as belonging to a literary tradition whose evaluation remains troubled and, for a large part, unsettled. Nevertheless,...
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...superficial descriptions, and the reticence towards giving the reader information about emotions are often used in minimalistic short stories. Carver’s use of symbolism, setting and the lack of emotional description helps the reader understand the protagonist and his struggles. Reading “The hair”, we are introduced to a man who discovers that a hair is stuck between his teeth. At first, the short story appears anticlimactic, because of its open ending and everyday-life circumstances. However the actual plot in the story, which is not given to us directly, tells the story of the man’s internal conflict, and the effect it has on his life. The mood of the story is very tense, guiding the reader to an understanding of the situation. The use of minimalism opens up to a more meaningful interpretation, expressing...
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...Sherman 1 “An Explosive Piece” Kelsey Sherman Professor Jill Palacki ART 101-53 December 11, 2013 Sherman 2 After visiting the Philadelphia Art Museum, I chose to looking Ellsworth Kelly, and the “November Painting.” Kelly is a Modern American artist from New York. He studied art at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn from 1941-1943, and also studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston from 1946-1948. Kelly travel to France in 1949 and infrequently attended classes at Ecole des beaux-arts where he was introduced to Surrealism and Neo-Plasticism that inspired many of his future art pieces (Guggenheim). Ellsworth Kelly’s “November Painting” was painted in 1950. It is an oil piece painted on wood in a white frame. The only colors that are displayed in the painting are black and white that makes the piece organized and concise, while also creating a nice contrast. The canvas itself is a slightly off-white. The off-white canvas is somewhat textured from the oil paint. Intermittently dispersed across the canvas are small, separate black and white geometric shapes, which unlike the background retain a smooth surface. The shapes are unorganized, and do not seem to be of any particular pattern. The shaped are not identical to each other, making each one unique and completely random. They contain to their own space, and do not intersect with each other (Philadelphia Museum of Art). “November Painting” is an experimental piece that began as a black and white drawling...
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...Janus Carpe Diem, or seize the day, is an often used phrase and it summarizes a lot of individuals way of living. It has become a way of seeing beyond past mistakes and failures and a way to get through the day with optimism and joy. But seizing the day, or living in the moment, requires you to let go of the past. You cannot hold on to the past, while living in the moment. This is the essential problem for the main character Andrea in the short story, Janus by Ann Beatie, she carries her past on her shoulders like it was the weight of the world. But how does past ruin the present? The main character Andrea is a divided individual, who is torn between a love from the past and her husband. First of all, Andrea is a divided self in the way that she is indecisive towards her husband and lover. Her lover made an ultimatum, which is seen in page 47 lines 38-43: “Her lover had said that she was always too slow to know what she really loved… When she would not decide in his favour, would not change her life and come to him, he asked what made her think she could have it both ways.” This clearly shows how Andrea cannot decide whether to leave her husband or not. Moreover, the quote shows how well the lover knows her compared to how little her husband knows her, take the following example: “When her husband first noticed the bowl, he had peered into it and smiled briefly… Her husband had pronounced the bowl “pretty,” and he had turned away without picking it up to examine it. He...
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...------------------------------------------------- Hemingway & minimalism * Indian Camp * Making something as small as possible * As few details as possible * In architecture: light and simple * Minimal dialogue + symbols * Cutting a long story short * “Iceberg-technique” FOR SALE: BABY SHOES, NEVER WORN. Short story by Hemingway * Perhaps a miscarriage * In a shop? * Shopaholic * Someone who gave up the baby plans * Just six words makes the reader think and wonder A very short story A 5 sentence summary of the text The text is about an American soldier, who gets wounded in Italy, where he falls in love with his nurse, Luz. They decide to get married and move to America. The soldier moves there first, and then Luz was supposed to come over later, but she has an affair with an Italian major, but they don’t get married either. In the end, they lose all contact and the soldier gets gonorrhoea. a) What is the point of view? Omniscient. Who is the protagonist? The American soldier. Probably Hemingway, as it is mostly based on his own life. Is the ending open or closed in your opinion? I think the ending is closed, because you get closure. b) Characterize “him” and Luz: The protagonist is an American soldier. He is very likely based on Ernest Hemingway, as most of his work is based on his own life, and it fits very well with the story about how he fell in love in the war. Luz...
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...Student ID Name Heuristic Evaluation of a website Use Nielsen’s principles to conduct a heuristic evaluation of the CitySearch website www.sydney.citysearch.com.au. Your goal is to find a café to have breakfast with friends in Surry Hills this coming Sunday. Keep in mind your goal in using the website (i.e. don’t evaluate everything to do with the website, evaluate those pages associated with your activity), use the principles to structure your evaluation of the website. Pay attention to which principles are upheld and which are violated. Note examples of this as you go. Are all principles relevant etc? Suggest some design improvements that occurred to you during the heuristic evaluation. Student may work in pairs if they like. 1. The visibility of system status The interactive interface of the website provides ample information regarding the event updates via calendar and the animated message box appears in the middle. Moreover, the different tabs provide the highlights of what’s going on. 2. The match between system and the real world It is a social website, but doesn’t demonstrate as “easy to understand” social language as other social websites do. Apart from that the interaction is more pleasing and expected. Moreover, the blogs, links and menus are all natural and traditional. 3. User control and freedom The navigation of pages is provided by the menu on top of the website. However, the home button as well as all other buttons are...
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...Abstract Expressionism developed after the end of World War II. Due to the outrage, desperation of the post war along with alienation and loss of faith led artist to explore different kinds of art. Hence, abstract expressionism began in New York in the 1940's -1950's as a sign of rebellion. The two modes of this new form of art in the United States are Action Painting and Color Field Painting. Action painters wanted to portray paint texture and the movement of the artist hand by dripping and splashing paint. Color Field Painting were mostly focused on the color and shape to create more peaceful and spiritual paintings which was a more mythic type of art. Paul Jackson Pollock also known by only Jackson Pollock was considered an action painter. I chose Pollock because he was a major figure in the movement of Abstract Expressionism and the New York School among other colleagues. He wanted his painting to be portrayed for what they were and eventually started numbering his art pieces rather than naming them. Willem De Kooning was also known to influence the New York School and was considered an action painter. I chose him mainly because his wife also became influenced by the arts and became an action painter herself. He was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon Johnson. Mark Rothko was considered a Color Field Painter. I chose Rothko for this type of abstract expressionism since he was one of the artist in New York that was...
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...Minimalism Essential Essays Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus Also by The Minimalists Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life Also by Joshua Fields Millburn Falling While Sitting Down: Stories As a Decade Fades: A Novel More Info TheMinimalists.com JoshuaFieldsMillburn.com Published in 2011 by Mins Publishing Copyright © 2011 by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus All rights reserved, though it would be appreciated if youʼd tell other people about this book if you enjoy it, whether you paid for it or not. Let it be known that any profits from this book will most likely be spent on coffee and/or burritos. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Minimalism: essential essays / Joshua Fields Millburn, Ryan Nicodemus. — 1st ed. ISBN-10: 1-936-53945-1 ISBN-13: 978-1-9365394-5-1 1. Title. 2. Minimalism. 3. The Minimalists. 4. Simplicity. 5. Self-improvement. Feel free to take pieces of these essays and replicate them online, but please give a link back to www.theminimalists.com along with it. If you want to use more than a few paragraphs, it would be great if you’d email theminimalists@theminimalists.com and let us know what youʼre up to. Contact Information: Joshua Fields Millburn Ryan Nicodemus email: theminimalists@theminimalists.com web: theminimalists.com Cover photo by Mick Evans and Hillary Hopkins Cover design by Colleen McCulla Formatting by Chris O’Byrne at ebook-editor.com Special thanks to four people who helped make this collection appreciably better...
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...Although Bolcom’s goal is to erase boundaries between popular and serious music, he employs pointillism, minimalism, atonality, cluster, etc to illustrate his spiritual and philosophical themes. My goal in this paper is by focusing on his work Frescos to discover the methodology and his spiritual and philosophical themes in two-piano. I will relate them to other works which have the same...
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...Discuss the impact of Minimalism on the field of popular music. Discuss and illustrate contrasting ways in which this influence is shown. Draw on examples discussed in the course and those discovered by yourself. At a first glance, it may seem like classical music and pop music couldn't be further apart. Two different genres with different instruments and different concepts. However, during the late 60's there was a radical change in music, where more and more pop artists were starting to become interested in contemporary classical music. This can be traced back to the Beatles and there album Revolver where they were inspired by Avant Garde composers and imitated a lot of their techniques. One piece on the album called revolver is alledgedly...
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...Art History Midterm Study Guide ❖ Abstract Expressionism ➢ Formal Characteristics: o Emphasizes physical properties of the medium (Materials first approach) o Gestural Application o Action Painting o Vibrant Color o Non-objective abstraction o Employs chance, accident o Flatness o Monumental scale ➢ Thematic Characteristics: o Extreme Emotion o Subjectivity / Individuality o Existential principles o Reliance on the psychic unconscious o In the present ➢ Contextual Characteristics: o First postwar American movement in modern art o NY as capital of art world ❖ Art Informel (Art without form) ➢ Formal Characteristics: o Gestural application o Abstraction o Impasto (Paint applied thickly) texture o Flattened Space o Small scale ➢ Thematic Characteristics: o Expressionistic o Honesty / Urgency o Authenticity o Existentialist Views: Philosophical movement, Existence proceeds essence, forlorn, freedom, anxiety ➢ Contextual Characteristic: o Post war o Occupations o Holocaust ❖ Post War Figuration (UK) ➢ Formal Characteristics: ➢ Thematic Characteristics: o Existence proceeds essence - Individual is born into existence...
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