Minimalism is an artistic wave starting in the United States, in the 50’s. Its substance is summarized in the motif “less is more“; presenting anything deprived of everything but its essential elements, not only underlines their meaning and importance, it also lets the work of art breathe. In the “space” created by the removal of inessential elements, the work grows and allows for multiple possible interpretations; ideally one for every one viewer (listener, reader, etc). Those two purposes (the almost scientific and obsessive exposure of the essential, and the equally obsessive removal of the unnecessary) are only accomplished after important effort on behalf of the artist – the more you get to know something, the more essential its details appear to you, making abstraction almost traumatic.
The combination of intonation of the important and subtraction of the unimportant creates however a demand upon the receiver [the “audience”] – the viewer needs to work with the artist to complete the image if it is to ever become personal. Unlike abstract art (where important and unimportant elements may be missing, and the viewer is approached with a form of a quiz, being asked to figure out what the artist thought and felt), minimalism does present an almost incomplete and simple basic form, upon which the audience builds their experience. This diversity of “interpretations” is the basis upon which “less is more” stands.
There are plenty of resources out there for those interested in learning more. However, I find Wikipedia’s chapter concise and accurate in many ways. I’d start there.
After realizing it has basic info, I’d look into another comprehensive review on minimalism; [The Art Story].
And then, there’s the MoMa view on it.
yoctom 