A Theory of MinimalismThe explosion of minimalism into the worlds of visual arts, music and literature in the mid-to-late twentieth century presents one of the most radical and decisive revolutions in aesthetic history. Detested by some, embraced by others, minimalism's influence was immediate, pervasive and lasting, significantly changing the way we hear music, see art and read literature. In The Theory of Minimalism, Marc Botha offers the first general theory of minimalism, equally applicable to literature, the visual arts and music. He argues that minimalism establishes an aesthetic paradigm for rethinking realism in genuinely radical terms. In dialogue with thinkers from both the analytic and continental traditions – including Kant, Danto, Agamben, Badiou and Meillassoux – Botha develops a constellation of concepts which together encapsulate the transhistorcial and transdisciplinary reach of minimalism. Illustrated by a range of historical, canonical and contemporary minimalist works of different media, from the caves of early Christian ascetics to Samuel Beckett's late prose, Botha offers a bold and provocative argument which will equip readers with the tools to engage critically with past, present and future minimalism, and to recognize how, in a culture caught between the poles of excess and austerity, minimalism still matters. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 3 | |
| 10 | |
| 12 | |
| 17 | |
| 21 | |
| 27 | |
22 Encounter | 31 |
43 Transfiguration | 92 |
44 Persistence | 99 |
On the Radicality of Minimalism | 107 |
52 Quantification | 111 |
53 Continuity | 116 |
54 Calculation | 122 |
55 Number | 131 |
On the Lessness of Minimalism | 137 |
23 Perception | 36 |
24 Disruption | 41 |
25 Force | 46 |
26 Anticipation | 50 |
On the Materialism of Minimalism | 57 |
32 Form | 61 |
33 Immanence | 67 |
34 Medium | 70 |
35 Nonreferentiality | 74 |
36 Process | 78 |
On the Persistence of Minimalism | 83 |
42 Generativity | 89 |
62 Clarity | 143 |
63 Icon | 147 |
64 Theurgy | 153 |
On the Extremes of Minimalism | 163 |
72 TakingPlace | 171 |
73 Nothingness | 174 |
74 Atopia | 179 |
Illustrations | 185 |
Notes | 187 |
| 237 | |
| 267 | |
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Common terms and phrases
absolute accessed 24 June Agamben ambiguous artwork Arvo Pärt ascetic austere Badiou Beckett becomes canonical capacity Carver clarifies Colpitt conception concrete concrete poetry constitutes contemporary contingency critical cultural Dada Dan Flavin Danto drone dynamic emerges encounter entity event existence existential expression fact facticity Finitude Flavin force Heidegger historical Ibid icons immanence instantiation intensified intensity La Monte Young language Levinas light literary logic Lyotard manifests marks material Meillassoux Merleau-Ponty Microfiction mimetic Minimal Art Minimal Music minimalist aesthetics minimalist music minimalist objects minimum Modern movement multiplicity narrative negation nothingness objecthood ontological painting Pendulum Music perception persistence Phenomenology Piano Phase poem poetic poetry political possible potential precisely present radical quantity realism reality recognizes regarding Reich’s relation repetition reveals Robbe-Grillet sculpture sense sequence Shaker Shaker Loops significance singular situation sound sound poetry space Stella’s sublime subtraction taking-place teleology temporal theory Trans transfigurative transhistorical visual arts word York Young’s