Postminimalism is an art term coined (as post-minimalism) by Robert Pincus-Witten in 1971[Chilvers, Ian and Glaves-Smith, John, A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art, second edition (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 569. .] and used in various artistic fields for work which is influenced by, or attempts to develop and go beyond, the aesthetic of minimalism.
Visual art
Postminimalist visual art uses minimalism either as a
conceptual art aesthetic or a
generative art practice. Like
Fluxus, Postminimalism is more of an artistic tendency than a particular style, but in general, postminimalist artworks often use everyday objects, simple materials, and sometimes take on a pure formalist aesthetics or
post-conceptual approaches. However, since postminimalism includes such a diverse and disparate group of artists, it is impossible to enumerate all the continuities and similarities between them. But as two opposing examples, take the work of
Eva Hesse and her use of
modern art Square tiling and
minimalist seriality that were usually hand-made, introducing a human element into minimalism in contrast to the machine fabrication more typical of the minimalism of someone like
Carl Andre.
Richard Serra was another prominent postminimalist though his large metal sculptures are completely machine made.
[Smith, Roberta (14 April 2011). " Richard Serra's Drawings at Metropolitan Museum of Art", NYTimes.com. Accessed 8 June 2012.]
Music
In its general musical usage, "postminimalism" refers to works influenced by
minimal music, and it is generally categorized within the meta-genre
art music. Writer
Kyle Gann[Kyle Gann. 2001. " Minimal Music, Maximal Impact: Minimalism's Immediate Legacy: Postminimalism". New Music Box: The Web Magazine from the American Music Center (1 November) (Accessed 4 February 2012).] has employed the term more strictly to denote the style that flourished in the 1980s and 1990s and characterized by:
-
a steady pulse, usually continuing throughout a work or movement;
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a diatonic scale pitch language, tonality in effect but avoiding traditional functional tonality;
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general evenness of dynamics, without strong climaxes or nuanced emotionalism; and
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unlike minimalism, an avoidance of obvious or linear formal design.
Minimalist procedures such as additive and subtractive process music are common in postminimalism, though usually in disguised form, and the style has also shown a capacity for absorbing influences from world and popular music (Balinese gamelan, bluegrass music, Jewish cantillation, and so on).
See also
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