Postminimalizm

Postminimalism is a term utilised in various artistic fields for work which is influenced by, or attempts to develop upon the work of minimalism. The expression is used specifically in relation to music and the visual arts, but can also be employed in any field by which the subject is said to use minimalism as a critical reference point.

Visual art

In visual art it refers specifically to artists who utilise minimalism either as an aesthetic or conceptual reference point from which to develop. The term does not refer to a particular movement but rather an artistic tendency. Postminimalist artwork is often associated or confused with conceptual art; frequently a work or artist can be described as both, as it is this conceptual element which regularly distinguishes it from Minimalism. Artworks often transpose reference to everyday objects or functions onto the austerely formalist approach of their predecessors. However with such a diverse and disparate group there are no definite correlations between artists.

Music

In its general musical usage, postminimalism refers to that influenced by minimal music. Writer Kyle Gann has more strictly used the term to define a widespread style that flourished in the 1980s and 1990s, characterized by

1. a steady pulse, usually continuing throughout a work or movement;
2. a diatonic pitch language, tonal in effect but avoiding traditional functional tonality;
3. general evenness of dynamics, without strong climaxes or nuanced emotionalism; and
4. unlike minimalism, an avoidance of obvious or linear formal design.