MINIMAL CHRISTIAN SCHREI

CONTENT Preface Reduction Repetition Mathematical Logic Object Orientation/Perspective Meditative Effect 4 10 24 34 44 54

Literature 66 Index 70

4 Initially this paper contemplates on similarities and differences between Minimal Art and Minimal Music. It is against this background that the question arises whether the perceptible divergences can, to a certain extent, be combined to form new conceptual ideas. At this point I should like to mention the comprehensive realisation process which refers to each chapter with a piece of music and a piece of art. In order to create the greatest possible differentiation, the preface will deal with Minimalist tendencies in disciplines rather attributed to Minimal Art like architecture, design and photography but also dance, film and literature will be studied for Minimalist aspects. Contentwise the structure of this paper follows the most important characteristics of the two styles discussed. The first three chapters interlink the constitutive aspects of Minimalism which play a decisive role both in art and music. The first one discusses reduction as the basis of Minimalism, the second one deals with repetition as the most important technique of reduction while the third chapter describes the mathematical logical processes used to intensify the Minimalist elements. The discussed pieces of art and music increase in intensity and so does the content of this paper. The fourth chapter is dedicated to object orientation and perspective in Minimalism and tries to find analogies to similar concepts in music. The last chapter finally investigates the meditative impact of Minimalism. This paper does not claim to be an exhaustive representation of all artists of Minimal Art and Minimal Music up to the present day (2005). The author rather tries to specify Minimalist manifestations in art and music on the basis of important criteria and distinguished artists and discusses them in a common context, draws connections between them and realises the thereby gained findings auditorily

PREFACE and visually. This realisation can be received via the attached Audio CD as well as through the artworks at the beginning of each chapter. All pieces of music have been composed, arranged and produced by the author. The same is true of the artworks which have been designed autonomously, in order to achieve the highest possible individual involvement with the material. At this point it seems reasonable to cast an eye on a problem that arose in the course of the research. Throughout the history of art and music style definitions have faced the challenge to assign a highly varying mass of artworks to a specific cultural movement. As for Minimalism the problem is even more significant since it is still debatable in art criticism if paintings and objects represent the principles of Minimalism likewise. Painting basically concentrates on the reduction of monochromatic and serially structured pictures, while in spatial art the object quality, the resulting spatial perspective and the critical relation between art and exhibition site play a decisive role. The present paper focuses on objects, since some significant characteristics of Minimalism, like object quality and perspective, apply only to them. As noted above, a digression to some areas of Minimalism beyond Minimal Art and Minimal Music will be made at this point. However, it will be confined to a short definition and a description of the most renowned artists. Although the presented works are generally to be seen in the context of their own movement it seems reasonable to briefly discuss the Minimalist approaches of other musical and artistic styles, so as to establish cross connections to Minimal Art and Minimal Music.

6 Architecture Soon after the concepts of Minimal Art are established, they are taken up in architecture. The critical attitude towards the traditional gallery room gives way to an increased simplification of forms and to a concentration on only few materials in architecture. This style is still relevant as demonstrated by renowned contemporary artists like the Swiss architect duo Herzog & de Meuron, the Englishman John Pawson and the Italian Claudio Silvestrin, who works in London. Design Towards the end of the 1950s Corporate Design calls for the creation of a uniform corporate identity for groups comprising the most diverse branches of industry. This results in the usage of geometric modular configurations and the exact specifications of intervals and distances between the elements, making their strong parallels to Minimal Art apparent. In the 1990s the Americans Kim Johnson Gross and Jeff Stone broaden the term Minimalism to include home design. In their series of books Chic Simple they stick to the philosophy Less is more and apply it, among others, to clothes, furniture and domestic appliances.1 Photography At the end of the 1960s further Minimalist tendencies can be observed also in conceptual photography where not only the serial sequence of pictures but also the act of describing and the procedural nature like in conceptual art play a vital role. Frequently, the representatives of conceptual photography such as Sol LeWitt, Dan Graham, Douglas Huebler and Joseph Kosuth reveal parallels and overlaps with their proper works in conceptual art.

PREFACE

Dance In the mid-1960s dancers get involved with the ideas of reduction, the most influential artists being Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, Simone Forti and Yvonne Rainer. In 1966 the latter wrote an article about dance and reduction where she defined the basic principles of Minimalist dance. Characteristically, concepts such as development, climax and representation of characters are abandoned in favour of the equivalence of all parts as well as a performance that is as neutral as possible. The variations in rhythm, form and dynamics are replaced by repetitions or discrete incidents.2 Film In film there is no Minimalist movement of its own, rather individual approaches of Minimalist aspects in films can be found. One early example is Hurlements en faveur de Sade (1952) from Guy-Ernest Debord, where a black and a white screen are shown alternately over a period of 80 minutes. During the white scenes texts of laws, newspaper notices etc. are recited.3 However, Debord cannot be considered a Minimalist artist. He was closely connected with the Situationist International, a radical group of artists who stuck to a strongly political programme between 1957 and 1972. In Minimal Art, however, all forms of political commitment were substituted by concentrating on aesthetics. About 10 years later Andy Warhols film Empire (1963) shows the filming of the Empire State Building in New York from the 44th floor of the Time Life Building

8 for a period of eight hours. He maintains the same camera position and angle throughout the whole film. As the object itself does not change and there is no sound track the lighting conditions are the only changing element in the film but are also reduced to a minimum by the use of black and white as well as by the fact that the image changes only slightly. Similar to Debord, Warhols film stands out from the rest of his works as an extraordinary piece of art which laid the basis for Pop Art. Although his artistic movement evolved at the same time as Minimalism, it clearly distances itself from the latter by elevating mass phenomena to works of art. Literature First Minimalist tendencies can be observed rather early, for example in Robert Desnos LAumonyme (1923) which Marcel Duchamps pseudonym Rrose Slavy divides into twelve identical variations such as Rose, cest la vie. Similar approaches emerged in the mid-1950s in concrete poetry which reduces the meaning of language to the phonetic level and aims at converging its visible form with its structure.4 Similarly, Steve Reich as a representative of Minimal Music, claims in his article Music as a Gradual Process (1968) that mainly the structure of an opus should be perceived. In the 1970s and 1980s a new form of Minimalist prose establishes in the USA. It is characterised by short words, sentences, paragraphs or short stories as well as by a reduced range of vocabulary, limited syntax or even minimal characters, expositions or scenes. The main representatives are Raymond Carver, Donald and Frederick Barthelme and Ann Beattie.5
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PREFACE Nagel, Wolfgang: Reine Leere. Minimalismus: Ein Jahrhundert der Reduktion geht zu Ende. In: Spiegel Spezial 5/1997, p. 96-98. Rainer, Yvonne: A Quasi Survey of Some Minimalist Tendencies in the Quantitatively Minimal Dance Activity Midst the Plethora, or Analysis of Trio A. In: Battcock 1968, p. 263-273. Strickland, Edward: Minimalism: Origins. Bloomington 1993, p. 11. Gomringer, Eugen (ed.): konkrete poesie. deutschsprachige autoren. Stuttgart 1972/1991, p. 120. Barth, John: A Few Words about Minimalism. In: New York Times Book Review, Dezember 1986, p. 1ff.

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REDUCTION

12 The starting point of Minimalism and Minimal Music is reduction which forms the basis of the techniques and aspects that will be presented in the following chapters and makes the different variations of both Minimalist movements possible. First of all, a short overview of the main principles and the most famous representatives of Object Art and Minimal Music will be provided, followed by a historical outline. After that, the different positions of various artists will be examined and compared with each other. Definition of Minimalism The majority of Minimalist artists work with simple geometric figures. Squares or cubes are often used as they are considered ideal because of their identical side lengths. The objects are related to the room in a natural way, situated parallel to the walls and the grain. The material itself is hardly processed by the artist as it is mostly automatically prefabricated and standardised. So it already meets the minimum requirements for a sculpture, namely spatiality, mass and material1, and only in a few cases the artist exceeds this minimum. Another essential aspect is the critical stance of Minimalists towards art in general and towards traditional galleries in particular, which becomes visible for instance by the unwieldy objects that seem totally oversized for small exhibition rooms. Definition of Minimal Music Similar to Minimal Art, reduction in music with Minimalist tendencies refers to the material as well as to the structure of the composition. While in Minimal Art the material is limited to geometric forms, in Minimal Music the number of tones

REDUCTION and intervals and the dynamics are reduced. Furthermore, artists avoid all forms of complexity as far as rhythm, articulation and sound spectrum are concerned. In the next scheme larger units are formed out of single parameters. For example, a Minimalist composition may consist of one single tone or sound, include especially long-lasting tones or pauses or connect single tones in the form of root constellations such as broken triads, tone scales or circles. It is the composition method that enables connecting the above mentioned elements in the context of the whole musical piece. These elements are then repeated with minimal or without modifications at all. By the same token, slight changes such as addition, subtraction or shifts can be found in previously defined sequences, without counteracting the Minimalist tendency of the composition. As for Minimal Music in music theory, the considerations of the critic and composer Reinhold Urmetzer are worth mentioning, who equals Minimal Music with those styles of music that are not bound to serial, post-serial or atonal composition methods.2 Protagonists of the Minimalist Movement Minimalism is considered mainly an American phenomenon, although its historical development is not limited to the USA. However, in art and music only Americans are considered to be the most important representatives, mostly working in New York. To be more precise, in Minimal Art mainly the five artists Carl Andre (born in Massachusetts in 1935), Dan Flavin (born in Jamaica, NY, in 1933; died in Riverhead, NY, in 1996), Donald Judd (born in Missouri in 1928; died in New York in 1994), Sol LeWitt (born in Connecticut in 1928; died there in 2007) and Robert Morris (born in Kansas City in 1931) are worth mentioning. The representatives

14 of Minimal Music are Philip Glass (born in Baltimore in 1937), Steve Reich (born in New York in 1936), Terry Riley (born in California in 1935) and La Monte Young (born in Idaho in 1935). Nevertheless, the classification of their works was not suggested by themselves but, as is often the case, by art and music critics. The term Minimal Art appears for the first time in Richard Wollheims essay with this very title. As for Minimal Music, however, it is unclear whether the concept was first used to name the Minimalist movement by Michael Nyman (born in London in 1944) in 1968 or by Tom Johnson (born in Colorado in 1939) in 1972.3 Some artists were opposed to subsuming the different approaches under the concept of Minimalism. According to Steve Reich such a musical label does not have a positive impact on musical thinking for it mostly determines who the artist is and defines him. This is what a composer wants to avoid at all costs because he wants to become part of something unknown.4 History of Minimal Art Although in 1967 such an attentive critic as Lucy Lippart helplessly explained that Minimalism was a virgin birth5 the idea of radical reduction as the basic principle of minimal concepts did not emerge with Minimal Art but was already used by Kasimir Malevich in Suprematism around 1912. Malevichs Black Square on White Ground (1913) exemplifies the reduction of elements to a basic quadratic form, seeming to be detached from the picture itself. There are also concrete analogies with Russian Constructivism in the early 1920s, considering for instance Vladimir Tatlin (born in Moscow in 1885; died there

REDUCTION in 1953) and Alexander Rodtschenko (born in St. Petersburg in 1891; died in Moscow in 1956) who wanted to integrate industrial production into an artistic environment. Further approaches, though not so much in an aesthetic but in a more conceptual way, were taken by Marcel Duchamp (born in Blainville-Creon in 1887; died near Paris in 1968) who provoked a far-reaching scandal in the art world with his Readymades already in 1914. In Duchamps view the definition of art should include the selection of materials used. Following this definition, he simply exhibits a urinal named Fountain in a museum. The reduction of his artistic work reveals clear parallels to Minimal Art and especially Duchamps art criticism is very closely tied to Minimalism. However, at a closer look slight differences can be found. Duchamp tries to convert the existing conventions in the art world into subjects of irony, whereas Minimal Art aims at revolutionising them. The art historian Irving Sandler, too, describes it as an art that is exclusively created to criticise art, without any other purpose.6 This intended possibility of NonArt holds also true for Pop Art, emerging at the same time as Minimalist approaches to art in around 1962. Yet, only from 1965 onwards attention is drawn to Minimal Art in larger exhibitions in New York. While Pop Art elevates objects of mass culture to objects of art, this concept is totally rejected in Minimal Art. Contrary to contemplating previous movements that had an impact on Minimal Art, it does not appear reasonable to go into detail concerning the history of Minimal Art itself at this point, as conventional art chronologies do not live up to the expectations of a differentiated discussion of this topic. In this context, the art critic Peter Schjeldahl is worth mentioning who is of the opinion that the

16 history of Minimal Art cannot yet be written as it is still not finished.7 This remark dating from the year 1984 is still true and confirmed by the fact that, above all, formal criteria of Minimal Art are still applied in architecture and design. By contrast, Minimal Music has had a relatively low impact on comparable movements in other fields. History of Minimal Music What in fine arts refers to the breaking of modern painting with its objects as well as to Duchamps new perception of art, refers in music to the revolutionary Twelve-Tone Theory of Arnold Schoenberg (born in Vienna in 1874; died in Los Angeles in 1951), a technique applied from 1922 onwards. According to the philosopher Theodor W. Adorno (born in Frankfurt/Main in 1903; died in Visp in Switzerland in 1969) Schoenbergs works are in fact the first pieces in which nothing could be changed. They are both protocol and construction. Nothing is left in them of the conventions that guaranteed the liberty of the game.8 By expanding the sound spectrum and at the same time applying strict rules Schoenberg creates the basis for developing all forms of Minimalist music. As he includes atonal elements he adds to Minimal Music the possibility of slightly changing musical material, which is very frequently used. However, he does not create a style of music that is totally bound to atonality. Schoenberg is a critic of redundancy which can be deducted already when the hero in his drama with music Die Glckliche Hand (1913) says that everything could be done more easily. But even before the turn of the century some individualists such as Erik Satie

REDUCTION (born in Honfleur in 1866; died in Paris in 1925) make use of repetition as is clearly reflected in his work Vexations (1893), which is to be repeated 840 times. Yet, this form of repetition refers rather to the composition as a whole than to the sound material. The world premiere of Saties work was performed in 1963 with twelve pianists, among them the Experimentalist John Cage (born in Los Angeles in 1912; died in New York in 1992), who, not only in music, had a great impact on Minimalist tendencies on a conceptual level. In his work 4 33 (1952) which is geared at the point of absolute zero with a length of 273 seconds, he reduces the musical information to a minimum during the performance and declares the noises produced by the audience as music that cannot be previously defined. The pioneer of authentic Minimal Music at the beginning of the 1960s is La Monte Young who meets Schoenberg during his studies and is strongly influenced by the Twelve-Tone Theory. As far as Minimalist aspects are concerned, especially Youngs detachment of musical elements from the time concept is essential. Shortly afterwards Young gets in touch with Terry Riley in Berkeley, who is concerned mainly with serial music up to that point and who composes his first Minimalist piece of music called In C in 1964. At its premiere Steve Reich is involved as well, who at that time experiments with material from speech recordings in his work called Its gonna rain (1965) and soon afterwards gets to know Philip Glass. After the climax of Minimal Music in the 1960s and 1970s previous radical tendencies disappear to a large extent, also because of intercultural contacts. For example, Young and Riley got intensively involved with raga music under the guidance of the North Indian musician Pandit Pran Nath (born in India in 1918;

18 died in Berkeley, CA, in 1996), whose influence is strongly reflected in Rileys works Shri Camel (1976-78) and The Harp of New Albion (1984) among others. Indian music, which is characterized by microtonal changes as well as additive rhythms, raises great interest among Minimalist composers, as testifies Glasss connection with Ravi Shankar (born in Varansi, India, in 1920). However, Glass, as opposed to Young, is not limited to Indian influences. Later on, for example, he composes the soundtrack for the anti-globalisation film trilogy Koyaanisqatsi (1983), Powaqqatsi (1988) and Naqoyqatsi (2002) in cooperation with the director Godfrey Reggio. Reich, on the other hand, becomes intensively involved with Ghanaian drum music, which is especially evidenced in his work Drumming (1971). Later he starts to study Hebrew written language and the traditions of synagogal psalms. In his theatre piece The Cave (1993), a production with video and music effects that was developed together with his wife Beryl Korot, he contrasts Jewish and Arab views in Abrahams times with todays views. This reveals his interest for political and religious topics. Reductive approaches Reduction can refer to the concept or to the execution or even to both. Minimalist concepts such as reduction or mathematical logical methods are based on exactly defined reduction processes and can become rather complex when it comes to implementing them. If the final result of the reduction of the conceptual basis is a Minimalist one, then what you see is what you see.9 This is how the Minimalist artist Frank Stella (born in Massachusetts in 1936) puts it in an

REDUCTION interview with Judd and the art historian Glaser. On the other hand, a simple implementation can be based on a complex concept, still preserving its Minimalist approach. Furthermore, there is a difference between material and structural Minimalism. While the former reduces the objects and the sound material to a minimum, the latter aims at reducing the aesthetic or musical structure. This structure is characterised by implementing particularly simple principles of composing in a consequent manner, which holds true for Minimal Art as well as for Minimal Music. Yet, only in fine arts the artists personality takes a back seat in the context of his or her work. This concept of repressing the artists personality is, however, abandoned to a large extent during the so-called second generation of artists such as Bruce Nauman (born in Indiana in 1941), Richard Serra (born in San Francisco in 1939) and Eva Hesse (born in Hamburg in 1936; died in New York in 1970). The rudimental method of reduction refers to the use of basic forms that cannot be further simplified, where the possible minimum of forms is achieved. Therefore, in Minimal Art frequently elements with equal side lengths are used. For instance, from 1956 until his death Ad Reinhardt painted nothing but Black Paintings. From 1960 onwards he designed them in a quadratic format of 152.4x152.4 cm, each with black shadings that can hardly be differentiated from each other. He defines the format as sizeless and describes it as being as high as a human being and as wide as the spread arms of a human being (not tall, not small, sizeless).10 From the beginning of the 1950s a similar style can be observed in Yves Kleins monochromatic paintings. In order to conceal all the hints of the act of painting

20 he applies each colour extremely evenly on the canvas (yellow, orange, red, gold, or later a self-developed ultramarine called International Klein Blue or IKB). Klein is one of the few artists whose works are appreciated not only in Minimal Art but also in Minimal Music. He translates the radical approach of his monochromatic paintings directly into his compositions such as Symphonie Monoton-Silence (1947), consisting only of a sole, long-lasting major triad and, subsequently, silence. Abandoning the concept of time lends a strongly meditative element to his work. This element is often used in Minimal Music, especially in La Monte Youngs works, and will be described in more detail in the last chapter. Young defines this particular form of Minimalist music as something achieved by a minimum of means. Harmony, rhythm, dynamics and instrumentation stay the same or change only slightly during the whole performance. This determines the prerequisite of minimalism i.e. the reduction of material which entails certain methods such as repetition, being one of the most important ones.11 Applying the definition of the reduction of material to Minimal Art brings along the considerations of Richard Serra, who rose to fame by the startling directness of his iron slabs. His objects claim purity and absoluteness and by Serras concentration on the basic characteristics of the material used they approximate the minimum of means defined by Young. For example, in One Ton Prop (House of Cards) (1968/69) he uses only metal slabs leaning against one other, while their structure is determined only by gravitation. The aesthetic decision of absolute reduction can be noted already in Schoenberg, claiming that music should not embellish but be true. He states that art is not related to what one can do but what one must do.12 Thereby he paves the

REDUCTION way for the early days of Minimalism about which the art historian Irving Sandler says that there was nothing that looked uglier, less related to art or more transgressive at that time.13

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Lippert, Werner: 1965. Fragmente einer Reise durch die Kunst. 1975. In: Kunsthalle Bielefeld (ed.), Concept Art, Minimal Art, Arte Povera, Land Art. Marzona Collection. Bielefeld 1990, p. 29. Urmetzer, Reinhold: Abschied von der Kopfmusik. In: NZ 12/1984, p. 18. Schaefer, John: New Sounds. A Listeners Guide to New Music. New York 1987, p. 64. Lovisa, Fabian R.: minimal-music. Darmstadt 1996, p. 15. Stemmrich, Gregor (ed.): Minimal Art. Eine kritische Retrospektive. Dresden/ Basel 1995, p. 559. Gibson, Eric: Was Minimalist art a political movement? In: The New Criterion, Vol. 5, No. 9, May 1987, p. 63. Schjeldahl, Peter: Minimalism. In: Art of Our Time: The Saatchi Collection, Vol. 1. New York 1984, p. 17. Adorno, Theodor W.: Philosophie der neuen Musik. Frankfurt am Main 1976, p. 46. Glaser, Bruce: Questions to Stella and Judd. In: Art News, Vol. 65, No. 5, September 1966, p. 58. Heere, Heribert: Ad Reinhardt und die Tradition der Moderne. Frankfurt am Main 1986, p. 44. Schwarz, K. Robert: Minimalists. London 1996, p. 9. Schoenberg, Arnold: Probleme des Kunstunterrichts. In: Musikalisches Taschenbuch 1911, Vol. 2., Vienna 1911. Gibson, Eric: Was Minimalist art a political movement? In: The New Criterion, Vol. 5, No. 9, May 1987, p. 63.

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26 Repetition is one of the most important techniques of reduction and is applied in art and music likewise. It mainly depends on the material, which will subsequently be discussed in further detail. Material The philosopher and musicologist Theodor W. Adorno describes material as something which is a self-sedimented spirit, predetermined by society, in the minds of people.1 Although he is referring to musical material, this also holds true for the notion of the term in visual art. Based on this theory, the artist can only choose from a limited range of materials as dealing intensively with the material inevitably leads to a discussion with society. If an artist consciously tries to abandon this repressive paradigm he or she might only partly succeed since historical patterns will immediately be recalled. Schoenbergs early atonal music does not meet with approval because, among others, the radicality of the used dissonances is completely unknown at this point in time and thus the music seems dissociated from its historical context. Adorno adds that the disharmony openly reflects the state of the audience at that time which is why the music is rejected as intolerable. As a result a composer can never make use of all the note combinations, just like a painter and a sculptor must accept the limitations of colours, shapes and materials determined by their historical development. Adorno exemplifies the shabbiness and abrasion of the diminished seventh chord or certain chromatic passing notes in the Palm Court Music of the 19th century as musical taboos. According to him, these tones were not only outmoded but utterly wrong and did not fulfill their function any

REPETITION more.2 The truth or non-thruth of a material is not decided on its isolated appearance but on its position within the prevailing standards of aesthetics. In order to escape this historical dilemma, Minimal Art uses materials which are deliberately contrary to the idea of art in the 1960s and earlier. Industrially produced materials and everyday objects like Dan Flavins fluorescent tubes defy the traditional artistic materials and result in an understanding of art typical of Minimalism, which Flavin describes as follows: we are moving towards a complete absence of art a common sense of psychologically indifferent decoration we simply enjoy contemplating, something everybody is able to do.3 Minimal Music in turn extensively eliminates atonality from its repertoire and implements forms by applying repetition not only to the composition as a whole but also to the material itself. It is undoubtedly remarkable that Minimalist tendencies in art and music develop around the same time in the USA, without clinging to historical material. The German composer Dieter Schnebel (born in Lahr/Baden in 1930) thinks that it is not by chance that this creative spirit comes from America: Once, and in its essence, at the same time New World and Wild West, America encouraged an orientation towards the future, without having to demolish existing structures, and it fostered a pioneering spirit that was not afraid to take on experiments.4 Repetitive approaches In music there are only few compositions that consist of merely perseverative repetitions. The composers rather express themselves by gradual changes of certain individual notes or entire figures. Minimal Art produces several pieces

28 which use repetitions whose components do not change. Initially the repetitive moment is the most striking feature of Minimalist music. Later on, this musical style also employs other techniques, which is also stated by the composer of the first serial piece Nummer 2, Karel Goeyvaerts (born in Antwerpen in 1923; died there in 1993).5 At the beginning of their Minimalist-oriented period many Minimalist composers work with highly repetitive patterns, like Philip Glass, who concentrates basically on repetition and static harmony for the electrically amplified violin in his composition Strung Out (1967). While Glass tends to vary the repetitions, Steve Reich employs this musical technique for his audiotape compositions and his piece Piano Phase (1967) in a continually unaltered way. The Englishman Michael Nyman and the founder of the Scratch Orchestra, Cornelius Cardew (born in Gloucester in 1939, died in London in 1981), are the most important European representatives of Minimalism. In his compositions Nyman primarily uses historic models and exposes them to never-ending repetitive procedures which vary only insignificantly.6 For his soundtrack for director Peter Greenaway and particularly for Jane Campions The Piano (1993) Nyman gained recognition beyond the small circle of connoisseurs of Minimalist music. Nyman and Glass are united in that they both employ a tendential fusion of Popular with Serious music, considerably influenced by the repetitive moment. While in classical E-music the stringing together of the same notes is still disdained as uncreative monotony, this technique has already established itself as a legitimate composition mechanism in Pop music. In Minimalism repetition does not mean an approximation to inartificiality in

REPETITION the sense of Popular music, but rather creates a visual rhythm or specific motion models. This becomes especially apparent in Donald Judds Stacks (1966, 1968, 1970) which are composed of modular boxes with identical distances between the individual elements. In order to achieve the most exact repetition of all boxes, Judd, as in many other cases, resorts to the industrial production of the objects. This does not only create precise indistinguishable copies, but also makes it possible to see the artwork as what it really is, without distraction of their individual developing process. He shares this view with Frank Stellas approach of What you see is what you see7, which primarily refers to the relationship with a reduction of the conceptual background. If the principle of repetition is to be maintained and the Minimalist concept is to be replaced by a more complex one, the artists and musicians generally employ mathematical logical processes, which will be discussed in detail in the following chapter. Repetition and chance Repetition creates patterns either according to an exactly defined plan or by chance. The first way usually means employing mathematical logical processes and takes place in an environment of which the artist is fully aware, while the final result of the second way, a random process, is not directly predictable. Morton Feldman (born in New York in 1926; died in Buffalo, NY, in 1987) represents a prominent example; he tells the four pianists playing his composition Piece for Four Pianos (1957) to each play the same piano movement in an individually chosen tempo. As expected, this individualisation leads to a delicately

30 performanced composition and to an unpredictable result. Thus, Feldman challenges one of the fundaments of musical theory, namely the exact notation of a composition. Something similar happens in Minimal Art when the foundations of the traditional artistic establishment the gallery as an exhibition site are critically questioned. Another analogy between Feldman and Minimalism can be seen in the clear withdrawal of the artist from his own artwork. What is the usage of industrially produced materials in Minimal Art is Feldmans instruction to the four pianists to imperturbably play their own tempo in Minimal Music. By doing so he leaves the finalisation of the composition to the performers and thus attaches great importance to them. Steve Reich commonly repeats longer tone units too, played by diverse instruments and for different periods of time. This results in a phase shift, extended to the timely component, which can, among others, be observed in his composition Four Organs (1967). The German Minimalist Erhard Grosskopf (born in Berlin in 1934) addresses the interesting development of the randomly developing tonality. He says, there can even be triads, but they do not fulfil a function, as they are just visiting during the performance.8 The criticism of monotony Repetition is seen as one of the central characteristics of Minimalism but at the same time it is defamed as monotony or a consequence of a lack of originality. Minimalists are commonly accused of only seeking to disguise the centripetal force in music that inclines towards monotony.9

REPETITION By the end of the 1970s at the latest, the term Minimalist is used more frequently as a swearword than as an art term. However, in the following decade Minimalism and particularly Minimal Art, which is highly contrastive to painting in the 1980s, is primarily perceived as reductive and confined to rules. Nevertheless, retrospectively it is the expressionism that is to a large extent held responsible for the cultural setbacks during the Reagan era, while Minimalism in the 1960s, despite its restrictivity, allows for various cultural flows to develop.10 By restricting the material and the possibility of its modification, the criticised repetition inevitably leads to a Minimalist principle, even if some artists regard repetition as an independent movement. The composer Louis Andriessen (born in Utrecht in 1939) argues that for him the repetitive moment is always more important than the so-called Minimalism.11 In the 1970s the repetitive school turns against the serial composition doctrine and against Process Art, which is initiated by Robert Morris and basically concentrates on the development of the artwork or piece of music itself. The seriality, based on Schoenbergs theory, rationalises the sensitivity towards a too early a repetition of the same note, unless it is repeated immediately.12 This clearly shows the objection to direct repetition. Among the visual artists it is particularly Carl Andre who is said to have created monotonous works. Endlessly repeating formats like his brick arrangements Equivalent VIII (1966) exert a considerable obtrusiveness which is described as perseverant, motionless, meaningless and provoking.13 Andre rejects the criticism arguing that he sees his whole work as a representation of just these characteristics which lead from monotony to a higher self-contained unit.

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Adorno, Theodor W.: Philosophie der neuen Musik. Frankfurt am Main 1976, p. 39. Ibid., p. 40. Lippard, Lucy: 10 Structurists in 20 Paragraphs. In: Minimal Art, Kat. Haags Gemeentemuseum. Den Haag 1968, p. 25-31. German translation by Birghild Wilke in: Minimal Art, Kat. Stdtische Kunsthalle Dsseldorf 1969, p. 16. Schnebel, Dieter: Denkbare Musik. Schriften 1952-1972. Cologne 1972, p. 144. Karel Goeyvaerts 1980 im Gesprch mit Wim Mertens. In: Fahres, Michael (ed.): European Minimal Music Project. Projektbericht. Utrecht 1982, unpublished. Motte-Haber, Helga de la (ed.): Geschichte der Musik im 20. Jahrhundert: 19752000. Laaber 2000, p. 33. Glaser, Bruce: Questions to Stella and Judd. In: Art News, Vol. 65, No. 5, September 1966, p. 58. Lovisa, Fabian R.: minimal-music. Darmstadt 1996, p. 210. Dibelius, Ulrich: Moderne Musik II 1965-1985. Munich 1988, p. 380. Buchloh, Benjamin H.D.: Figures of Authority, Ciphers of Regression. In: October, No. 16, Spring 1981, p. 39-68. Lovisa, ibid., p. 15. Adorno, ibid., p. 65. Stemmrich, Gregor (ed.): Minimal Art. Eine kritische Retrospektive. Dresden/Basel 1995, p. 581.

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MATHEMATICAL LOGIC

36 Mathematical logical techniques resemble repetition. In the context of these techniques additional and logically deductible considerations are made concerning the grade and the frequency of repetition instead of serially arranging the existing elements without modifying them. While repetition is closely connected to the material, the mathematical logical method focuses more on the structure of the work. Techniques The three most famous methods of mathematical logic in Minimal Art and Minimal Music are addition, subtraction and substitution. They are applied either jointly to smaller units or to the work as a whole. Musical addition means adding one tone to the composition. For example, if a third is added to an existing fifth, a decision has to be taken between a major and a minor key. Thus, the importance as well as the effect changes significantly. Vice versa this applies also to subtraction which is frequently used as a kind of mirrored reflection after an addition, like in Steve Reichs Drumming (1971). Musical substitution is not limited to replacing notes but is also applied for pauses. Similarly, in Minimal Art the technique of substitution refers to single elements and empty spaces. The same holds true for adding and subtracting as well. All of these methods can change the objects or its characteristics in fine arts, and, in music, the tone or the length of a tone. The techniques used, however, should bring along only slight changes in order to maintain the Minimalist form even when applying complex techniques. After all, the prerequisite of Minimalist work is that at least either the concept or the resulting implementation complies with the criteria of Minimalism.

MATHEMATICAL LOGIC

Mathematical logical approaches Since composing his work Nine Bells (1979) the music critic and later composer Tom Johnson, who was the first apart from Michael Nyman to coin the term Minimal Music, remains committed to his own style of Minimalist Music which is guided by mathematical logical phenomena. The best example of his rationally predicable compositions is the religious, serious oratorio Bonhoeffer-Oratorium (1988-92). In his work The Chord Catalogue (1986) Johnson creates a close relation between chords and tone scales and he writes down all the 8178 possible chords of one octave in chromatic tone scales. He follows a previously exactly defined process which determines the whole composition without further interventions from the artist. The use of certain processes is a typical feature of mathematical logical methods. They foster the reduction of the artistic ego, an element already widely applied in Minimal Art rather long before. Hanne Darbovens (born in Munich in 1941) deals with mathematics not so much on a conceptual but on a meta-level and reduces her artistic material to numbers. Her painting 4868 (1969) consists solely of the four numbers mentioned in the title. They are repeated according to their numerical value in rows with a length of 104 characters. Since 1980 she applies the mathematical structure of her paintings to her musical pieces where she assigns a specific tone pitch to each visual element. The writer and art collector Donald Karsham defines Minimalist artworks as mostly being arranged mathematically in space, in their own seriality of inter-

38 vals.1 Sol LeWitt is one of the most renowned representatives of this technique. With his serially structured paintings, cubic objects, grids and, above all, with his strongly conceptual approach he has gained international recognition. In his pencil walldrawings (1969) sized 190x190 cm Sol LeWitt works with vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines, all placed very closely next to each other. The whole series is composed of 15 quadratic drawings and is divided into groups of three that are again arranged within themselves. When adding the first element to the second the result one gets is the last drawing of each row. Surprisingly though, LeWitt breaks his own rules by creating a hardly identifiable divergence in the combinations of his drawings. Usually artists distance themselves from the artistic act when applying mathematical logical methods, and they imperturbably finish a certain process. Sol LeWitt, by contrast, intervenes deliberately in the process of addition of his walldrawings. In doing so he responds to the criticism that holds the artists withdrawal from their works responsible for the lack of emotions that Minimalist works evoke. The cube takes a central role in LeWitts whole oeuvre. His series Variations of Incomplete Open Cubes (1974) consists of a schematic drawing showing all the different permutations of a cube, describing a cubical form with three to eleven straight lines. LeWitt translates the drafts of this series also into the third dimension. The resulting objects made from enamelled aluminium automatically bring the recipients to complete the cubic form in their minds. Later on, LeWitt applies the idea of the puristic geometry of a cube also to photography. In his work Cube (1988) he exposes the same cube in more than 500 different light situations.

MATHEMATICAL LOGIC LeWitts works often seem like the visual solution of a simple mathematical question. The concept is for him the essential component of his artistic work, which is reflected by the fact that he does not make any modifications during the production process as he wants to emphasise the disproportion of the object and the idea. Donald Judd is considered to be the most famous representative of Minimal Art and the master of conveying the tension between visuality and material. He agrees with Sol LeWitt who says that irrational thoughts should be followed strictly and logically.2 Judds specific objects are invented rationally as confirmed by the use of mathematical series to determine the exact distance between the single elements of an object. Robert Morris, too, uses this technique but the effects of his objects are often irrational. The reason for that is that it seems impossible to grasp the different perspectives as a clear entity as e.g. with Mirrored Cube (1963). Criticising the lack of emotions When arranged the single elements lose some of their individuality and become interchangeable. Thus, the individualising form of the work is shifted from the concept to the implementation. The majority of Minimalist Artists, however, abstains from demonstrating their own emotions. Instead, they create mathematical logical entities in order to ban their artistic ego as much as possible from their works. Sigmund Freud (born in Freiberg in 1856; died in London in 1939) also deals with the relationship between the artwork and its creator, stating in one of his late

40 writings that the force of creation does not always obey the artists will. He says that the work gets the way it can get and confronts the author in an unruly and even unfamiliar manner.3 Freud implies a previously given distance between the work and the artist. This distance deliberately reaches its limit in Minimalism. Emotions are a much discussed problem in artistic and musical works. Already in the early 20th century intellectualism blames the so called new music to originate in the head and not in the heart or the ear.4 While this criticism refers mainly to serial composition techniques and to atonal music, objections in Minimalist art predominantly refer to mathematical logic, repetitive elements and restricted forms. In music already the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (born in Stuttgart in 1770; died in Berlin in 1831) criticised the increasing lack of emotions of the instrumental virtuosos of his days. He says that, as a consequence, the composer can concentrate fully on the musical structure of his work and the witty elements of its structure. He complains that musical production could become something lacking thoughts and emotions and therefore not requiring a deeper consciousness of knowledge or mind.5 The lack of emotions, however, can also be traced back to the expectations of consumers who apparently are not as concerned with the conceptual background as with the returned benefit in terms of delight as Adorno says.6 Hegel examines in more detail the recipients perception which differs substantially from the object i.e. the proper work. According to Hegel the reason for this is that feelings belong to the region of mind that is unascertained and dull. He says that a feeling is hidden in the most abstract form of individual subjectivity

MATHEMATICAL LOGIC and therefore the differences in feelings are totally abstract and do not refer to differences in the work itself.7 In general the relationship between expression and construction, between pathos and logos8 seems to be one of the central problems of music in the 20th century. At the end of the 20th century an increasing number of composers become opposed to rigorously concentrating on the form and structure of music. Instead of that they prefer an emotional representation of their ideas that goes beyond material reality. Nevertheless, even at the climax of Minimalism there are some artists who feel related to the roots of Minimalist ideas but produce emotional works as well. The most intensive discussions about emotions as part of the artistic work take place, above all, during the second generation of Minimal Art. In 1968 e.g. Bruce Nauman shows fiberglass objects that take the form of loaves in his promising debut exhibition in New York. They reveal Minimalist elements but are combined with disturbing overtones of organic life.9 The same holds true for his body casts, neon tubing as well as for the use of rarely applied materials such as styrofoam, felt and grease in his work Collection of Various Materials Separated by Layers of Grease with Holes the Size of My Waist and Wrists (1966). His apparently organic forms and materials instigate a debate in Minimal Art concerning the emotional value, a debate unheard-of at that time. Another artist that ranks among the second generation of Minimalists is Eva Hesse. Her works glow with a strong feeling of intimacy or well a feeling of selfconfident sexuality like in Ingeminate (1965). She attaches great importance to the production process and therefore makes visible all the decisions and actions during this process. Thereby she concedes herself a lot of space in the context of

42 her artistic work. So Hesse broadens the artistic result by the emotional component and like Nauman she clearly delimits the scope of her work compared to the work of the first generation of Minimalist Artists. Although these artists meet the claims for more emotions in their artworks at the end of the 1960s they cannot prevent the public from abandoning Minimal Art. One of the reasons for this is certainly the sinister and partly menacing effect of Minimalist works. Dan Flavins oeuvre ranks among the few works that succeed to create a balance between the inexorable nature of geometry and oddly sentimental feelings. His work The Diagonal of May 25, 1963 (1963) consists solely of a fluorescent light. Nonetheless, it already joins all the essential aspects of Flavins future works such as the look of Non-Art of the unprocessed commercial light, the art-historical nostalgy of diagonals (the definite metaphor of Constructivism) and the urban, diary-like glamour of the title.10
1 2

MATHEMATICAL LOGIC Karshan, Donald: After Malevich. Unpublished manuscript 1977. Stemmrich, Gregor (ed.): Minimal Art. Eine kritische Retrospektive. Dresden/Basel 1995, p. 576. Freud, Sigmund: Gesammelte Werke, Vol. 16. London 1950, p. 211. Adorno, Theodor W.: Philosophie der neuen Musik. Frankfurt am Main 1976, p. 20. Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich: Werke. Vollstndige Ausgabe durch den Verein von Freunden des Verewigten, Bd. 10: Vorlesungen ber die Aesthetik. Berlin 1842/43, p. 42f. Adorno, ibid., p. 20. Hegel, ibid., p. 43. Motte-Haber, Helga de la (ed.): Geschichte der Musik im 20. Jahrhundert: 19752000. Laaber 2000, p. 97. Stemmrich, ibid., p. 585. Ibid., p. 574.

3 4

6 7 8

9 10

OBJECT ORIENTATION/PERSPECTIVE

46 Obviously object orientation and perspective are terms coming from Minimal Art. Nevertheless, some comparative considerations can be made about these concepts and Minimal Music. This chapter will deal with Object Art in the first place, but Minimalist tendencies in painting and the ambiguous proportion to objects in Minimal Art will also be taken into account. Painting and object Painting and Object Art form part of Minimal Art from the beginning onwards. From a quantitative point of view the latter is dominant and better known to the public. Critics have always been arguing with artists, or vice versa, about which art movement represents Minimal Art. The fact that Object Art develops out of the paintings of Frank Stella does not seem to play a major role for this discussion. Jo Baer (born in Seattle in 1929), Robert Mangold (born in North Tonawanda, NY, in 1937), Brice Marden (born in Bronxville, NY, in 1938) and Agnes Martin (born in Maklin, Canada, in 1912; died in Taos, New Mexico, in 2004) are painters that form part of this art movement. However, they do not further develop the Minimalist idea but implement their influences to the medium they are working with. While this group explores monochromatic painting by a reductive approach and seriality, Object Art is busy with factors like material, form and space. Due to the dislike of Object Art of all forms of paintings, the art of painting and its right to exist are questioned. In comparison to The Bricks of Carl Andre a picture can not lay claim to Non-Art, which excludes the criticism referring to the established area of art and its exhibition halls that is typical of Minimal Art.

OBJECT ORIENTATION/PERSPECTIVE Donald Judd criticises that the rectangular canvas and its limited space do not offer enough space and possibilities for the desired simplicity. In comparison to colours on just one and the same level, space seems to be much more interesting and powerful to him. With this explanation he predicts a soon end for paintings in general, which he considers as remnants of earlier European times. This pushing for absolute reduction is also limited within space. According to the curator George Stolz Minimalism has always tended to destroy itself because of its own perfectionism. He remarks that immaculate simplicity of a white cube fixed on a white wall can neither be more immaculate nor simpler.1 Morris and Judd even turn their backs to sculptures which are, like paintings, constructed step by step by means of addition and composition.2 Therefore both of them support the idea of the inseparability of a work of art. Since an object can just be composed of a minimum of separate parts in order to be minimal, in the ideal case the form itself becomes the object. Function of three-dimensionality According to Morris essay Notes on Sculpture (1966) the internal relation of former works does no longer exist in the work of art itself but develops a function of space, light and range of vision. This new orientation towards reception can be traced back to the personal withdrawal from their own work by several Minimalist Artists. Since the recipient is now located in the same space as the work one gets the opportunity to create their own relation to the work. By taking different positions in the room and by the changing lighting conditions new aspects of perception

48 evolve. If the recipient moves while looking at the work a dynamic feeling of size develops. If one views a large-scale object an involuntary distance between recipient and work is caused because of the pragmatic desire to perceive the entirety of the work. These physical and psychic distances are to be seen in Carl Andres works. The wooden object Shape and Structure (1965), which was exhibited during the first group show of Minimal Art, was so massive that the gallery floor ran the risk of caving in, and therefore the object had to be removed. The artists comment was that he wanted to take up the whole space, hold it back and not just fill it.3 Richard Serra also produces imposing objects that are usually positioned in public spaces in order to cause a surprising effect on the people passing by. Since this is not possible in an empty, white showroom he dissociates himself from Minimalists like Judd and their concept of space. He follows a similar approach of the space concept as Andre and, furthermore, abandons the traditional showrooms of galleries and confronts the public with partly monumental objects. Thus, conflicts are inevitable. His most famous piece of art of this type is the sculpture Tilted Arc (1981) which was exhibited on the Federal Plaza of New York. The slightly bent wall made of steel was over three metres high and provocatively placed on the plaza to become an obstacle to the people passing by. Serra is interested in creating a completely new situation and forces the public to tackle this situation in daily life far away from the galleries. The publics response to the sculpture was largely negative and people campaigned vociferously for the removal of the object, which they achieved in 1989. The application of authority transmitted by the

OBJECT ORIENTATION/PERSPECTIVE materials and forms that are often very large and heavy is of singular importance to Object Artists. In art history and particularly during the period of Minimal Art all synonyms for power, like authoritarian, strong or dominating are bywords for a successful work of art. Qualities like soft or flexible, though, are seldom taken seriously. With the second generation of Minimal Art and the discovery of new materials and forms this interpretation is forced onto the sidelines. An artwork is considered as vigorous if it is perceived as a whole, with all the elements integrated into the same entity. Instead of forming a unit out of the most diverse individual elements afterwards, Minimalist Object Artists avoid unequal parts within their artworks from the very beginning by emanating from absolute forms like cubes. One example of this unconditioned form of reduction in space as well as of clearly claiming authority is e.g. the cube Die (1962) from Tony Smith (born in New Jersey in 1912; died in New York in 1980). This objects side lengths are six feet long each, which corresponds to about 180 cm, the dice being an ultimate obstacle because of its magnitude. Even the title fits in with the characteristic of unity that embraces the whole work because the length of six feet refers to the term six feet under meaning the state of a buried person. Smiths definition of the specific size of this cube is worth mentioning, to which he refers in more detail in the question-and-answer game described as follows. Being asked why he did not make his work bigger so as to surmount the viewer, he replies that he did not create a monument. When he is posed the question why he did not make his work smaller so as to be able to see over it he responds that he did not create an object.4 That draws the attention to Smiths

50 individual classification of the size of three-dimensional artworks, situating his work between the public character of a monument and the intimacy of a smaller object. Richard Serra reveals a particularly strong will of power which takes shape not only in his scandalous work at the Federal Plaza in New York but becomes apparent also one decade before in his series Prop Sculptures (1969-1987). In this series, aside from the most works immense size there is the constant danger that the single iron slabs which are simply leaned against one another could fall apart. In fact, the slabs are kept together solely by gravitation and their own weight, which even causes some injuries of the workers in charge of assembling and disassembling the installation. Furthermore, not only a certain size but also the directness of a work can transmit a feeling of vigour. Robert Morris construction Untitled (1966), which is about 80 cm high, has the structure of a wire netting that evokes associations with a cage or a prison and claims absolute authority in spite of its relatively small size. Analogies with music Although there are no direct parallels of Object Art and perspective with Minimal Music some similar approaches can be noted. While the spatiality of Minimal Art allows for new perspectives on non-changing elements, the technique of phasing brings along a similar change in the reception of Minimal Music. From 1963 onwards Steve Reich as the first Minimalist composer deals intensively with phasing models in tape music. The title of the first composition in

OBJECT ORIENTATION/PERSPECTIVE which he applies this technique throughout the whole piece is Its gonna rain (1965). Therein he plays several tape loops of a lay sermon, the content of which is confined to the phrase mentioned in the title, with several tape recorders at the same time. Since the speed of reproduction differs slightly from recorder to recorder, the original theme is perceived from a new perspective because of the interfering tracks. This effect becomes particularly obvious in Reichs work Piano Phase (1967) where the original pattern is relatively complex, consisting of simultaneously played triadic and shifting figures. By the gradual shift of these figures new intervals can be perceived which do not form part of the original pattern. This effect corresponds to the viewers moving around an artwork in Minimal Art who, as a consequence, gain a new perspective of it. On a superficial basis the differences between art and music persist since the change of perspectives in music has to be determined previously by a strict concept and cannot be influenced by the listener, whereas in art the spectator is awarded the individual right to choose any viewing position he likes. At a closer look, however, particularly Reichs compositions reveal psycho-acoustic by-products such as e.g. the shifts between unisons and overlapping sounds or the microtonal changes of intervals. The composer does not cause these shifts deliberately, rather they are perceived only in the context of all the single voices. To a large extent, the effect depends on the interpretation by the musician as well as on the reception by the audience.5 That is to say, how acoustic phenomena are finally perceived by the listener is influenced strongly by individual concentration. As in Minimal Art, up to a certain extent the recipients are granted

52 control when it comes to perceiving the fine details of a composition. The most radical example of phasing while at the same time reducing the original material in Minimal Music is represented by the work Pome symphonique (1962) by Gyrgy Ligeti (born in Transylvania, Romania, in 1923). The composer is, however, not considered as one of the classical representatives of Minimal Music. 100 metronomes keep ticking at different speeds, which results in identifying an acoustic whole instead of highly complex polyphonic sounds. This, in turn, results in what the Minimalists Judd and Morris claim, namely in replacing the artwork consisting of many components by an artwork considered an entity.
1

OBJECT ORIENTATION/PERSPECTIVE Stolz, George: Clues from the Known: Sol LeWitt and Photography. In: Sol LeWitt: Fotografa. Madrid 2003. Stemmrich, Gregor (ed.): Minimal Art. Eine kritische Retrospektive. Dresden/Basel 1995, p. 337. Tuchman, Phyllis: An Interview with Carl Andre. In: Artforum, June 1970, p. 61. Morris, Robert: Notes on Sculpture, Part 2. In: Artforum, Vol. 5, No. 2, October 1966, p. 20. Reich, Steve: Writings about Music. New York 1974, p. 10.

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MEDITATIVE EFFECT

56 In the first place, objectivity and perspective are related with plastic arts but, nevertheless, interesting parallels with Minimal Music can be observed. Although the meditative effect is almost exclusively provided by Minimal Music, possible links to other fields of art will be shown to complete the sophisticated picture of Minimal Art and Minimal Music depicted in the preface. The time factor One of the most important prerequisites to reach the meditative effect is to dissociate the temporal reference from the composition. The logical and strict time structure is given up and replaced by an extreme lengthening of the tones. This technique leads to a performance of nearly epic breadth and can be observed especially in the works of La Monte Young and Steve Reich. The former used to work with endless seaming tones and overtones until the 1990s. Reich, by contrast, opts for phasing to give a meditative quality to his repetitive music, but he moves away from the strict, Minimalist principle right at the beginning of the 1970s. Young and Reich have one thing in common: both of them strive to omit all subjective decisions while composing.1 Several Minimal Artists, too, make use of the experience that a process works completely autonomously after finishing its concept. This has also been shown by Sol LeWitt in his mathematical logical works. Another basic quality of the meditative effect is to do away with the classical music form, i.e. to leave the unambiguous structures of the composition and just concentrate on the tone hic et nunc.2 In a certain way Minimal Music follows the philosophical approach that the perception in the present has to be

MEDITATIVE EFFECT given priority to a way of thinking that includes past and future perspectives. The conceptual artists of Minimal Art try to reach a similar aim when putting the visitor and the object in a gallery or in a public space at one and the same level so that the presence of a work of art can be perceived intensively. As an example for this approach the work One Ton Prop (House of Cards) (1968/69) by Serra shall be mentioned. The very fragile structure consists of iron plates that are leaned against one another. In the face of the imminent danger of collapsing the recipient is urged to perceive the work right at the current time and place.3 There are also some analogies between the meditative aspect of Minimal Music and Optical Art that experienced an impetus in the middle of the 1960s in New York. Both currents have the reception of psychic phenomena and their remarkable precision in common. The latter is striking in the extensive investigation of frequency realised by Young. The optical illusion of Optical Art corresponds not only to Youngs experiments with overtones but also to the psycho-acoustic sideeffects that are heard in the Reichs phasing. Morton Feldman (born in New York in 1926, died in Buffalo, NY, in 1987) reveals another access to the meditative quality of a piece of music. From 1977 onwards he exclusively works with repetitions and changes of sound patterns and combines this form of composing with an often exhausting length and a very low volume. These qualities can e.g. be found in his work String Quartet II (1983). Feldman does not only take the artists but also the audience to their limits of concentration with a performance that lasts more than five hours.

58 It seems as if nothing happens Minimal Music, often referred to as meditative music, is frequently confronted with critical voices saying that nothing were happening, mainly if the repetitions do not vary or the tones are sustained for quite a long time qualities that are characteristic of Youngs compositions. On the one hand the effect of this compositional technique can express a meditative feeling with reference to time, on the other hand this incessant repetition of the elements creates a cloud of sound that seems to completely possess the audience. It has been criticised that this kind of music was long-winded, not expressive and even nerve-racking.4 However, the composer Wim Mertens (born in Belgium in 1952) argues that Minimal Music neither wants to be expressive nor follows the classical striving for the end of a piece of music. Nevertheless, exceptions can be found within the row of Minimalist Composers. On the one hand these exceptions apply the technique of Minimalism but on the other hand they tend to use a very expressive approach to music. The compositions of Henryk Mikolaj Grecki (born in Poland in 1933) between the 1950s and 1960s are designed according to the concept of seriality. At the end of the 1960s he turns towards the concepts of simplification and reduction. Modal elements that are joined by simple triads, though often interpreted as very nave, enable Grecki to find an emotional access to Minimalism. This feature is typical of his late compositions. It can be said that Grecki opposes a lot of expressivity to the criticism that there was nothing happening during the pieces of Minimal Music. Therefore his works are sometimes referred to as the Holy Minimalism. His most famous composition of this type is Symphony No. 3 (1976). Since it has been sold more than two million

MEDITATIVE EFFECT times it is considered a commercial success, because only very few compositions of modern music can record a similar success. Philip Glass is another internationally renowned composer. He mostly owes his success to his later artistic period during which he no longer applied the very strict concept of Minimalism but worked particularly in the field of film music. During his early period when applying the strict rules of Minimal Music to his works he takes a stand towards the criticism that nothing was happening in his music. Glass is conscious of the fact that, from a classical point of view, nothing or nearly nothing seems to be happening. That is the reason why he calls on the audience to turn away from the formal structure of a piece of music and to dedicate themselves to the results of the gradual development of the composition process.5 He also frees himself, as does La Monte Young, from the conventional context of the concept of time. This can be observed in Music in Twelve Parts (1971-1974) where repetitive elements as well as the whole length of the composition transmit this concept. Not only because of the performance length of more than four hours but also because of being his last Minimalist composition this is Glass most important work. In his following composition Another Look At Harmony (1970-1975), Glass turns towards more harmony and a denser technique of composition. Tom Johnson tries to give another definition for Minimal Music in his essay What is Minimalism really about (1977). In this article he gives a description of the different tendencies of describing this kind of music and makes an attempt to present music less dramatically. Contrary to other music critics Johnson confines himself to describing in a neutral way the so-called NonDramatic, the result of the lacking formal structure in a piece of music, just as an

60 important feature of Minimal Music.6 The spiritual background In the early 1960s the Minimalists La Monte Young, Terry Riley and Steve Reich composed a series of music that is considered an early form of meditative music which shows a great range of spiritual qualities. The longest and most intense treatment of the spiritual way of thinking can be found in Youngs compositions. His strong relation to the Far Eastern culture and philosophy is reflected already in the establishment of an office for meditation as well as in his interest in the Japanese haiku. The simple overtone frequencies are very important in the compositions of Young. During his studies with the Indian guru Pandit Pran Nath which he started in 1970 he got conscious of the fact that these frequencies are based on universal principles of the oscillations of the universe.7 His tutor also showed him that minimal changes of the frequency can have a direct impact on humans. Experimenting with this background knowledge he wants to mediate a primarily spiritual experience, If people just arent carried away to heaven, Im failing.8 Minimal Art is led by similar ambitions but wants to reach its aims by other means. The recipient should perceive his relation to the Minimalist object and the present to finally become conscious of his own relation to the universe. According to Morris it is the function of the object to provoke this feeling of respect.9 Carl Andre draws a good comparison to that by describing the peace that emanates from places like Stonehenge or from Japanese gardens. According to him

MEDITATIVE EFFECT the feeling of this kind of peace enables us to see that we can not have the whole universe in our minds.10 Far away from American Minimalists some composers from Eastern Europe deal with religious themes that are nearly always closely related to Christian motifs. The Polish composer Grecki introduces religious traditions from his homeland in his late works Old Polish Music (1969). This kind of music also occupies a central role in his third symphony. The first movement is based on fragments of folk music from the collection of the Polish father Wladyslaw Swietokrzyski. In this song Mary begs the dying Christ to share his sorrow and pain with her. In the next moment an 18-year-old girl carves a text into the wall of the cell in the prison of Zakopane. Despite the few instruments that are applied and the short length the piece lasts about eight minutes only, and the second movement generates an oppressive atmosphere which alternates between hope and agony. The piece ends with the lament of a mother that mourns over her son who died during World War One. Arvo Prt (born in Estonia in 1935) is another composer from Eastern Europe who shows great interest in religiosity. He tries to elegantly join reduction and repetition with transcendental experiences. There are significant parallels to other Minimalist Artists and Composers who want to hide their individuality as far as possible from their works. Prt curbs his creativity to come closer to the revelation of the cosmic secrets as a timeless and unchanging reality.11 In the piece Fr Aline (1976) he makes use of the tintinnabuli style, a new style which was coined by himself. The name comes from Latin and means little bell. One voice that moves by step and develops the principal melody is typical of this

62 style. A texture of major or minor triads is then laid over this principal melody by which the triads sound either more strongly or create a dissonance. Most of his contents are based on religious texts. So he reproduces e.g. the whole St. John Passion in this style and names the work Passio (1982). In conclusion it shall be said that the meditative tendency of Minimal Music must not be mixed up with the genre of Meditation Music, which strongly tends to be popular music. Even if Philip Glass and Michael Nyman tend to compose popular music in their late artistic periods the difference in the conceptual and compositional approaches between Minimal Music and its counterparts in popular music still exists.
1

MEDITATIVE EFFECT Reich, Steve: Music as a Gradual Process (1968). In: Reich, Steve: Writings about Music. New York 1974, p. 9. Danuser, Hermann: Die Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts. In: Neues Handbuch der Musikwissenschaft, Vol. 7. Laaber 1984, p. 393. Krauss, Rosalinde: Sense and Sensibility. Reflections on Post 60s Sculpture. In: Artforum, Vol. 7, No. 3, November 1973, p. 51f. Lovisa, Fabian R.: minimal-music. Darmstadt 1996, p. 12. Mertens, Wim: American Minimal Music. La Monte Young. Terry Riley. Steve Reich. Philip Glass. New York 1983, p. 79. Johnson, Tom: The Voice of New Music. New York City 1972-1982. A Collection of articles originally published in The Village Voice. Eindhoven 1989, p. 296. Gligo, Nika: Ich sprach mit La Monte Young und Marian Zazeela. In: Melos 40, 1973, p. 338. Kostelanetz, Richard: The Theatre of Mixed Means. New York 1968, p. 218. Stemmrich, Gregor (ed.): Minimal Art. Eine kritische Retrospektive. Dresden/ Basel 1995, p. 552. Serota, Nicholas: Carl Andre: Sculpture 1959-1978. London 1978, p. 19. Motte-Haber, Helga de la (ed.): Geschichte der Musik im 20. Jahrhundert: 19752000. Laaber 2000, p. 269.

4 5

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66 Adorno, Theodor W.: Philosophie der neuen Musik. Frankfurt am Main 1976. Barth, John: A Few Words about Minimalism. In: New York Times Book Review, Dezember 1986. Danuser, Hermann: Die Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts. In: Neues Handbuch der Musikwissenschaft, Vol. 7. Laaber 1984. Dibelius, Ulrich: Moderne Musik II 1965-1985. Munich 1988. Fahres, Michael (ed.): European Minimal Music Project. Projektbericht. Utrecht 1982, unpublished. Freud, Sigmund: Gesammelte Werke, Vol. 16. London 1950. Gibson, Eric: Was Minimalist art a political movement? In: The New Criterion, Vol. 5, No. 9, May 1987. Glaser, Bruce: Questions to Stella and Judd. In: Art News, Vol. 65, No. 5, September 1966. Gligo, Nika: Ich sprach mit La Monte Young und Marian Zazeela. In: Melos 40, 1973. Gomringer, Eugen (ed.): konkrete poesie. deutschsprachige autoren. Stuttgart 1972/1991.

LITERATURE Heere, Heribert: Ad Reinhardt und die Tradition der Moderne. Frankfurt am Main 1986. Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich: Werke. Vollstndige Ausgabe durch den Verein von Freunden des Verewigten, Vol. 10: Vorlesungen ber die Aesthetik. Berlin 1842/43. Johnson, Tom: The Voice of New Music. New York City 1972-1982. A Collection of articles originally published in The Village Voice. Eindhoven 1989. Karshan, Donald: After Malevich. Unpublished manuscript 1977. Kostelanetz, Richard: The Theatre of Mixed Means. New York 1968. Krauss, Rosalinde: Sense and Sensibility. Reflections on Post 60s Sculpture. In: Artforum, Vol. 7, No. 3, November 1973. Linke, Ulrich: Minimal Music. Dimensionen eines Begriffs. Essen 1997. Lippard, Lucy: 10 Structurists in 20 Paragraphs. In: Minimal Art, Kat. Haags Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag 1968. German translation by Birghild Wilke in: Minimal Art, Kat. Stdtische Kunsthalle Dsseldorf 1969. Lippert, Werner: 1965. Fragmente einer Reise durch die Kunst. 1975. In: Kunsthalle Bielefeld (ed.), Concept Art, Minimal Art, Arte Povera, Land Art. Marzona Collection. Bielefeld 1990.

68 Lovisa, Fabian R.: minimal-music. Darmstadt 1996. Mertens, Wim: American Minimal Music. La Monte Young. Terry Riley. Steve Reich. Philip Glass. New York 1983. Morris, Robert: Notes on Sculpture, Part 2. In: Artforum, Vol. 5, No. 2, October 1966. Motte-Haber, Helga de la (ed.): Geschichte der Musik im 20. Jahrhundert: 19752000. Laaber 2000. Nagel, Wolfgang: Reine Leere. Minimalismus: Ein Jahrhundert der Reduktion geht zu Ende. In: Spiegel Spezial 5/1997. Rainer, Yvonne: A Quasi Survey of Some Minimalist Tendencies in the Quantitatively Minimal Dance Activity Midst the Plethora, or Analysis of Trio A. In: Battcock 1968. Reich, Steve: Music as a Gradual Process (1968). In: Reich, Steve: Writings about Music. New York 1974. Reich, Steve: Writings about Music. New York 1974. Schaefer, John: New Sounds. A Listeners Guide to New Music. New York 1987.

LITERATURE Schjeldahl, Peter: Minimalism. In: Art of Our Time: The Saatchi Collection, Vol. 1. New York 1984. Schnebel, Dieter: Denkbare Musik. Schriften 1952-1972. Cologne 1972. Schoenberg, Arnold: Probleme des Kunstunterrichts. In: Musikalisches Taschenbuch 1911, Vol. 2., Vienna 1911. Schwarz, K. Robert: Minimalists. London 1996. Serota, Nicholas: Carl Andre: Sculpture 1959-1978. London 1978. Stemmrich, Gregor (ed.): Minimal Art. Eine kritische Retrospektive. Dresden/ Basel 1995. Stolz, George: Clues from the Known: Sol LeWitt and Photography. In: Sol LeWitt: Fotografa. Madrid 2003. Strickland, Edward: Minimalism: Origins. Bloomington 1993. Tuchman, Phyllis: An Interview with Carl Andre. In: Artforum, June 1970. Urmetzer, Reinhold: Abschied von der Kopfmusik. In: NZ 12/1984.

70 Adorno, Theodor W. 16, 26, 40 Andre, Carl 13, 31, 46, 48, 60 Andriessen, Louis 31 Baer, Jo 46 Barthelme, Donald 8 Barthelme, Frederick 8 Beattie, Ann 8 Brown, Trisha 7 Cage, John 17 Campion, Jane 28 Cardew, Cornelius 28 Carver, Raymond 8 Childs, Lucinda 7 Darbovens, Hanne 37 Debord, Guy-Ernest 7f Desnos, Robert 8 Duchamp, Marcel 8, 15f Feldman, Morton 29f, 57 Flavin, Dan 13, 27, 42 Forti, Simone 7 Freud, Sigmund 39f Glass, Philip 14, 18f, 28, 59, 62 Goeyvaerts, Karel 28 Grecki, Henryk Mikolaj 58, 61 Graham, Dan 6 Greenaway, Peter 28 Gross, Kim Johnson 6 Grosskopf, Erhard 30 Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich 40 Hesse, Eva 19, 41f Huebler, Douglas 6 Johnson, Kim 6 Johnson, Tom 14, 37, 59 Judd, Donald 13, 19, 29, 41, 47f, 52 Klein, Yves 19f Korot, Beryl 18 Kosuth, Joseph 6 LeWitt, Sol 6, 13, 38f, 56 Ligeti, Gyrgy 52 Malevich, Kasimir 14 Mangold, Robert 46 Marden, Brice 46 Martin, Agnes 46 Mertens, Wim 58 Morris, Robert 13, 31, 39, 47, 50ff, 60 Nath, Pandit Pran 17, 60 Nauman, Bruce 19, 41f Nyman, Michael 14, 28, 37 Prt, Arvo 61 Pawson, John 6 Rainer, Yvonne 7 Reggio, Godfrey 18

INDEX

Reich, Steve 8, 14, 17f, 28ff, 50f, 56ff Reinhardt, Ad 19 Riley, Terry 14, 17f, 60 Rodtschenko, Alexander 15 Satie, Erik 16f Schnebel, Dieter 27 Schoenberg, Arnold 16f, 26, 31 Serra, Richard 19f, 48, 50, 57 Shankar, Ravi 18 Silvestrin, Claudio 6 Smith, Tony 49 Stella, Frank 18, 29, 46 Stone, Jeff 6 Tatlin, Vladimir 14 Warhol, Andy 7f Young, La Monte 14. 17f, 20, 56ff

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MINIMAL Printed copies: 500 Units Printed through: Fuchs Druck GmbH, Germany English translation (2007): Andrea Schmidt, Julia Harrer, Anita Ertl Music composed, arranged and produced by Christian Schrei. Diploma thesis at the Institute of Information Design, University of Applied Sciences Joanneum Graz, Austria. 2005 Christian Schrei. All rights reserved. Dedicated to Jrg Schlick. Thanks to Ao.Univ.Prof. Mag.phil. Dr.phil. Harald Haslmayr, Ao.Univ.Prof. Mag.phil. Bernhard Lang, Ao.Univ.Prof. Mag.art Georg Friedrich Haas and Christine Frisinghelli.