minimalism
noun
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In the 1960s, a few composers, including Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and John Adams, began writing music inspired by the music of India and Southeast Asia, often with a quick pulsing beat and chords that are repeated quickly over and over while small changes are slowly introduced. Minimalist art, which began appearing around the same time, tries to strip away all personal elements, often leaving only pure geometric forms; you may have seen the plain silver boxes of Donald Judd, or the straight neon tubes of Bruce Nauman. In literature, the stripped-down fiction of Samuel Beckett and Raymond Carver is often considered minimalist. But there's a real question whether these various types of minimalism should even be considered the same concept.
Examples of minimalism in a Sentence
New York Times, 19 Feb. 2025
This kind of minimalism has given way to a new generation of butler's pantries, concealing the visual busy-ness of toaster and blender cords, coffee stations, and other less aesthetic elements of the most high-traffic room in the house.
—Mary Catherine McAnnally Scott, Southern Living, 17 Feb. 2025
Leaning into tech culture’s embrace of minimalism, the flagship showcases timepieces like paintings behind glass amid a palette of gray and cobalt blue.
—Marissa Muller, WWD, 13 Feb. 2025
For Fournier, the project was an opportunity to break away from the white-on-white minimalism often associated with Haussmannian renovations.
—Kristen Flanagan, Architectural Digest, 29 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Minimalism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/minimalism. Accessed 4 Mar. 2025.
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