CODEX
N°#06 | Minimalism.
"There are infinite words written, Zen, Goal, Bang, Rap, God, End"
—Jorge Drexler.
Most of times we complicate ourselves while choosing how to project our ideas on the artistic area. Which begins as a brief thought starts filling with an anxiety related to our influences and life experiences inherited from general knowledge, what leads us to a overload of ideas. We don't realize when it's enough, or even worst, when it's too much.
The use of art as a method of expression allows us infinite posibilities, a message can be given using tons of elements fused in one artwork as shown in pop art or artistic media as music with elaborated pieces in different keys and time signatures; many times we think that adding more elements to the message makes it easier to be understood, on the other hand this can overload said message and turn it in something so confusing that it completely strays from it's initial purpose. Some are born gifted with the ability to add as many elements (chords, draw, more complex words, painting techniques, etcétera.) In just one artwork. Metaphors, struggles, but at the end of the day, it turns out to be a valid way of expression for any artists with a bunch of ideas in mind.
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That is how the necessity for minimalism originalted, the art of carrying a message with leas elements as possible without losing it's purpose, there are many ways to achieve it, some prefer minimalism from the start and are conscious that their work is going to be minimalist while others construct their ideas, execute the artwork and then dissasemble it to a point where they feel the message is intact but with the less amount of elements.
Minimalism in theory.
According to this points of view minimalism can be a composition of many elements which dictate the same message on a brief way, as they also can take just one part of of a bigger message without losing it's meaning, let's take as an example this verse and put it to test.
"He walked to the window, stood staring at it while she walked in between the flower, that moment he knew he wanted to be by her side forever".
Narrative resourses from this message have a clear concept that can be simplified without altering the meaning ir direction of the story being told.
"Through the window he saw her between the flowers, then he knew it will be forever".
Picture by @zailecita
This kind of omission of elements are the artist's decision, details as the fact that a person walked to a window can be crucial on certain stories, for example this detail could be highly relevant if it was about a character who couldn't walk. Concepts found about minimalism can vary if applied from the conception of the artwork or if some of them are extracted from it after composed, we can find minimalism in sculptures, paintings, architecture, poetry, cinema, dance and other arts but one that has kept in constant evolution in this sense is photography since it's exponents have changed the meaning and way to perform minimalism since they adopted it from painting and architecture, which defined this concept in France back on 1965 . Not the first time photography takes over a movement coming from another art and transform it, it was yet another effort from photographers to be everywhere and be pioneers of something they didn't invented, however thanks to that there were found new artistic trends in movements relying on photography such as cinema and fashion.
Minimalism in practice
Faced with the question of how each artist interprets minimalism and how he or she executes it, we decided to carry out an experiment with different members of our community after debating the meaning of minimalism in photography, surprisingly, the interventions of artists from other media were not long in coming. (Click on the images to see full size.)
 | "Photograph taken in Bolivar's house that seems to me to fit in with the minimalist concept because of the trio of elements present in the image, its colour and the simplicity of its framing. > @heibert210 |
 | "For me minimalism represents an expressive synthesis of our ideas and feelings, in this case, I have taken this photograph of this art object I made some years ago, in which I sought to reflect a longed-for home that I continue to seek today.> @majo1989 |
 | "For me, minimalism means getting your point of view across in as little detail as possible." > @iciis |
 | "That morning I woke up pretty melancholy missing several friends and a lot of things. I think that although the photo is left to interpretation, I would like to express that friendship is served in small portions." > @aidarojaswriter |
 | "In the little details are the big differences." > @andreasfp |
 | "This photograph is entitled'Fragmented'. The mask is split in half, this is because it shows the character behind the idea that represents the same with "anonymity", has details of artificial blood cradled to the sacrifices made for the greater good the knife oz represents the weapon of struggle of those of low income and with greater value and capacity. > @stairway2heaven |
"This photo invites us to enjoy the contrast between our Focal element in this case the rose and the flat background." > @jorgeddln
The theory that if it is not a point on a white background then it is not a minimalist work, then the principle of minimalism would come from the artist's own mind and from the simplification of his decisions, we could listen to a 12-minute song with twenty instruments, but its music was composed under minimalist principles since a great deal of information was extracted from its message or it was simply created for this purpose. Unlike other arts whose criteria are defined by the spectator, minimalism is only defined by the artist and there is no standard that says where minimalism begins and ends.
That is why as artists we must learn to deal with unconventional themes and understand that even though society may denigrate or point out you for transgressing its vision of culture, it is up to you to decide to what extent to create around this field.
Let us seek in such a way to break the established canons of society and get out of that existing mechanism of containment and social control in order to feel that our art is finally free. Let us defy the forbidden by seeking freedom.
Now what?
Let's review our previous works and take into consideration what could work under the principle of minimalism, where they could be simplified and if we have the opportunity to execute this method to put it in comparison with the result of the original work, let's learn to see minimalism as a tool and not as a strict current with laws to follow, its use could help you to achieve more aesthetic and even more digestible results for the viewer, reducing the semiotic weight of your message could direct attention to the main point of your message without suffering distractions.
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