Reduce, Repeat

Abstract

Presence is the quality of art that strikes a viewer; its energy is palpable. In every moment it is completely alive and in every moment after is alive once more. In 1967, critic, Michael Fried explained the importance of art’s ability to affect viewer continuously in this way and names the temporal affect of presentness as the most significant motivation of Minimalism; the essence of reduction is in this temporality. With much of the visual language of the Contemporary resting on the foundations of Minimalism, the temporal philosophy that is rooted in its vocabulary and aesthetics becomes an afterthought in the formalist discourse that Contemporary art is often framed by. To understand the reductive aesthetic comprehensively, the theory of temporal presence should be revisited. This paper is divided in two parts, the first will establish the philosophical foundations of Empty time and the second will apply concepts of Emptiness and Nothingness to reductive aesthetics.

Crucial to presence are the temporal, spatial and experiential modes that are active in it. The meeting point of time and space, the current now, is where these encounters manifest but in the present moment, the movement of past-becoming-present-becoming-future occurs without our even feeling it. The ‘passing of time’ never actualises in our sensory experience, so we should cease to approach time in this way. Buddhist and Nietzschean philosophies raise concerns with this linear approach to time. To better understand the form of the present and the temporal language of reduction, I will examine the durationless model of time that shapes the sensation of experience. Buddhist, Śūnyatā and Nietzsche’s eternal return, will be examined to reconcile the disconnect between experiencing and the movement of time.

The second component of the paper will examine the minimalist models of reduction, monochrome and repetition, against Fried’s essay. A clear lineage of presence becomes evident in the Contemporary’s thematic trends of ‘immaterial’ and ‘formless’, considering these examples demonstrate the legacy of reduction. To track the historical development of the minimal tradition, I will begin with Lucio Fontana (reduction) and move through to Yves Klein (monochrome) and finish with Lee Ufan (repetition).

I intuitively apply the three aforementioned aesthetics to my creative practice and. Repetition plays a significant role; the demand for patience, will and perdurance is absorbing and, for me, the greatest teacher of time. The repeated gesture is an immersive exercise; it requires becoming absolutely attuned to time and Being. The mark is simultaneously the lingering anticipation of the next moment and mourning the passing of the last; it is a punctuation of Being. Time’s value is often treated as a commodity, so our desire to attain and hold it is overwhelming. It is in my practice that I can unlearn the ideas of time passing, running out, fading or eroding. The commitment to repeat infinitely eases the tension of chasing time.