This course will study minimalism in several twentieth century art forms ranging from literature to painting and sculpture to music, drama, and film. The course will begin with the antecedents of the minimalist spirit in Modernism, especially in the poetry of W.C. Williams and the painting of Malevich and Mondrian. It will then turn to Beckett before settling into American Art in the Fifties and Sixties and parallel movements in music, drama, poetry, fiction and film. Finally we will ask why it might matter for an art to display its having passed through minimalism even if it does not settle in that set of vocabularies.
Regular attendance is required .
Attendance includes coming to sections prepared to talk and participating in web discussion groups. You are also expected to attend the performances listed at the syllabus . In addition, Gallery six in the Berkeley Art museum will be all minimalist work, including two pieces by Donald Judd. Students are expected to know those works and it might be wise to use them for the first of your paper assignments. There will be three four to five page papers or related assignments.