Minimalism vs Minimalism vs ...Minimalism

It is very understandable to require clarification whenever someone introduces a concept called "minimalism" into conversation.
This is because there are several conflicting subjects sharing that name, but describing altogether different things, outside of some general sense of reduction.

Minimalism at its most basic, and ignoring the fields it is referenced in, is the practice of reducing, making smaller, making lesser, an act of removal.

Minimalism today might most often be spoken of not in reference to the art world, which is the first sense in which I recall hearing the term used, but rather in discourse about housekeeping.

Minimalism as in "not posessing more than is needed and used" is the end goal of many who are focused on decluttering.  Marie Kondo's book, [The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up] does not use the term, "Minimalism," if memory serves me, BUT the suggested practices therein suggest the removal of all the extra from one's home.  This, in my understanding, is the core of the Minimalist trend today.  The pinnacle of this form of minimalism would then be found in those making do with extremely small or functionally limited houses: Van Dwellers, Schoolies, and Tiny House inhabitants respectively move out of traditional housing into vans, decommissioned school buses, and ... tiny houses.  They by design cannot have much, but at least in ideal they would differ from the packrat who lives in a car, but it is overflowing with all sorts of junk and it's unclear how they would even drive the thing, let alone sleep in it.

Minimalism in the commonest sense and with regard to art seems to focus on reduction of scale.  That's not to say that dollhouse sized works would necessarily be the endgame of this kind of minimalism, but generally the same rules are at work here as with the housecleaning type.  This is an easier type of art minimalism to grasp intuitively than the last, which could be seen as just a more philosophical take on this type.  In this layman's art minimalism, abstraction might come into play.  A fire hydrant could, through the process of minimalism, be rendered as a red rectangle.  An art showcase could feature just a single piece in an otherwise empty gallery, thus adding force to the one subject that has been presented.  A room could all be painted a single color, or the lights could be deliberately out, making a cavelike experience in a curated space.

The more formal Minimalism, goes even a step beyond the common level of abstraction, and no longer requires the same sense of "smallness" or "basicness."  In this model, a minimalist piece can be enormous, and in fact, might work best at scale.  The object becomes to intrude, in very direct ways, into the viewer's presence.  This could be accomplished by physically occupying the gallery space that visitors usually mill about in, it can be by implanting intrusive thoughts in viewers' heads by way of aggressively framed objects that seem willing to crush them.  I would argue that some earthwork and architectural designs function on this plane of Minimalism, not in spite of, but rather, because of, their colossal size.  The object here is not to say the most with the least matter, but to make the largest impact on those who view the thing, full stop.  This doesn't have to just be physical things, either.  John Cage's 4'33" is an obvious example: a pianist seated, plays silence for four minutes and thirty-three seconds; the audience cannot avoid observing the ambient noise all around, and made by, themselves; neither can they escape awareness that their presence is inducing the performer to accomplish precisely nothing until the performance has concluded.  

To recap, capital-M Minimalism is the type where imposition is maximized, lower-case-M minimalism is the general type where things like color, count, or form are reduced, and housemaking minimalism is, if not anti-consumerism, then still some form of counter-culture wherein unnecessary possessions are let go in order to unburden their owners.

Tim Ashton
3.13.2020

If you read through this, I'd like to hear your thoughts on it!  It's been a few years since I actually studied the art concept formally so I may be quite far off.  Anyways, thanks for reading!