New York Minimalism

Minimalism in architecture has existed in New York for over fifty years.While other styles have come and gone, the simple, perfect expression of space and form that minimalism affords have perennially informed New York spaces -- residential, commercial, and public alike.Now that people's attention is again focused, not only on the New York skyline but also on the history and influence of Big Apple buildings, the time is right for this homage that presents twenty-two of the most representative minimalist projects in New York. Each featured project not only includes exquisite photography, but also brief reminiscences from each architect, reflecting on the spirit of the city as revealed in their works. A final discussion of New York's architectural icons rounds out the book. New York Minimalism is a fascinating journey through recent history's most compelling examples of residential, commercial, and public architecture in New York, a celebration of architectural achievement in the city that never sleeps.

The New Yorker staff writer and Filterworld author Kyle Chayka examines the deep roots-and untapped possibilities-of our newfound, all-consuming drive to reduce. “Less is more”: Everywhere we hear the mantra. Marie Kondo and other decluttering gurus promise that shedding our stuff will solve our problems. We commit to cleanse diets and strive for inbox zero. Amid the frantic pace and distraction of everyday life, we covet silence-and airy, Instagrammable spaces in which to enjoy it. The popular term for this brand of upscale austerity, “minimalism,” has mostly come to stand for things to buy and consume. But minimalism has richer, deeper, and altogether more valuable gifts to offer. In The Longing for Less, one of our sharpest cultural critics delves beneath the glossy surface of minimalist trends, seeking better ways to claim the time and space we crave. Kyle Chayka's search leads him to the philosophical and spiritual origins of minimalism, and to the stories of artists such as Agnes Martin and Donald Judd; composers such as John Cage and Julius Eastman; architects and designers; visionaries and misfits. As Chayka looks anew at their extraordinary lives and explores the places where they worked-from Manhattan lofts to the Texas high desert and the back alleys of Kyoto-he reminds us that what we most require is presence, not absence. The result is an elegant synthesis of our minimalist desires and our profound emotional needs. With a new afterword by the author.

Make your way from the Flatiron to Flatbush as an award-winning designer expertly captures New York City with minimalist art and unexpected wit. Minimal New York City playfully captures the essence of New York with clever pairs of sharp illustrations and cheeky commentary about the city. Historic context for each illustration is revealed in the back of the book, making it an informative experience for anyone who has ever walked through the bright lights of Times Square, paid $13 for an avocado toast, or indulged in Junior's Cheesecake on Flatbush. Minimal New York City is a celebration of what makes New York New York. As a lifelong resident of New York state who has spent nearly twenty-five years living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Michael Arndt has poured his wealth of insider knowledge into Minimal New York City, a graphic love letter dedicated to the place he calls home. His references run the gamut from visual similarities between Central Park and Brooklyn's parks to the ways in which Times Square has evolved from the '70s to today. His visual and verbal wit make the graphics of New York approachable for New Yorkers and Big Apple fanatics alike.

Minimalism offers the first straightforward and useful summary of the output and outlook of the artists associated with minimalism in its heyday, as well as its subsequent development into more nuanced visual forms and its relationship to postmodernism. Editor James Meyer is a specialist who has written extensively on Carl Andre, Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, and Sol LeWitt, four of the seminal minimalists (the fifth is Robert Morris). Despite the intellectual thorniness of this art, Meyer avoids the turgidity that marks much of the writing associated with it. Tracing the origins of minimalism primarily to Frank Stella's "Black Paintings" of 1959, Meyer outlines the shifting, often warring definitions of this new kind of art. Once sculptors Andre and Judd had made their mark, there was doubt that painters could be minimalists. Brice Marden and Robert Ryman made the cut because their work was believed to be purely about the process of painting. Interestingly, although this was overwhelmingly a male club, curators also initially embraced the work of several women artists (including Agnes Martin and Anne Truitt) who retained such minimalist no-noes as irregular, handmade marks, color that could be perceived independently of form, and a belief in transcendent meaning.

Critic and art historian Meyer, a leading authority on Minimalism, examines the style from its inception to its broader cultural influence. This sourcebook features an excellent selection of nearly 300 color and b&w images to illustrate the surprising variety of the work.

The effects and influence of minimalism--the art movement in which artists removed personal expression and decorative detail from their work--continue to be felt today as art produced by its proponents continues to be exhibited and artists continue to use the style. The great movements of modern art, among them Impressionism, Surrealism, Cubism, and Abstract Expressionism, have challenged rather than accommodated critics and public. None more so than Minimalism, which unrelentingly questioned not only the nature of art, but also the place of art in society-especially the capitalist society of the United States. Beginning in the 1960s, artists like Frank Stella, Donald Judd, Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris, Robert Smithson, Walter De Maria, Richard Serra, Keith Sonnier, Eva Hesse, Robert Grosvenor, and Joel Shapiro reacted against what they saw as the flamboyance of Abstract Expressionism, seeking instead materials, forms, and procedures that explicitly do not convey the personal touch of the fabricator. Many observers have judged the artworks that resulted obstinately cerebral and unapproachable-or, worse, barren beyond the point of tedium. Others have recognized that these works are, in fact, revolutionary, embodying an elemental immediacy unprecedented in Western art. Giving no quarter to complacent illusion and habits of perception, the Minimalists pushed aesthetic thought deeply into the crust of unexamined ideas that most of us take for granted as cultural terra firma. In this volume, illustrated with works ranging from small-scale sculpture and hermetic paintings to vast "earthworks," Kenneth Baker, the award-winning art critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, explores the history and challenge of Minimalism in the context not only of the trends it succeeded, but of those that have succeeded it. Minimalism: Art of Circumstance is one of those rare essays of critical insight that combine a comprehensive point of view with a revisionist spirit; for, in unfolding the history of his subject, Baker finally challenges the very notion of a "minimalist movement." The result is provocative, and in today's wildly pluralistic post-modern art world, this volume is living history-in fact, required reading. Art critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, Kenneth Baker publishes in all the major journals, including Art in America, Artforum, Architectural Digest, Connoisseur, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and many others. He has received the Manufacturers Hanover Trust-Art World Award for Distinguished Newspaper Art Criticism (1985) and his Minimalism studies have been supported by the Dia Foundation. Baker has taught at Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Boston College. 128 illustrations

Rising out of the American art music movement of the late 1950s and 1960s, minimalism shook the foundations of the traditional constructs of classical music, becoming one of the most important and influential trends of the twentieth century. The emergence of minimalism sparked an active writing culture around the controversies, philosophies, and forms represented in the music’s style and performance, and its defenders faced a relentless struggle within the music establishment and beyond. Focusing on how facts about music are constructed, negotiated, and continually remodeled, We Have Always Been Minimalist retraces the story of these battles that—from pure fiction to proven truth—led to the triumph of minimalism. Christophe Levaux’s critical analysis of literature surrounding the origins and transformations of the stylistic movement offers radical insights and a unique new history.

The decluttering craze meets a passion for sustainable living and interior design in this gorgeous new book for readers of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up This book promises an opportunity for self-reflection and lasting change, by getting to the bottom of why we've accumulated too much stuff in the first place, therefore allowing us to transform our lives. Professional decluttering and design team Cary and Kyle of New Minimalism will take you through every step, from assessing your emotional relationship to your stuff to decluttering your home to then turning it into a beautifully designed space that feels clean and tidy without feeling sparse or prescriptive. And all of this without filling up a landfill—you'll find resources and strategies to donate and reuse your stuff so you don't have to feel guilty about getting rid of it!