Anna Chave Minimalism

How did Minimalist artists wish their work to be viewed in relation to their personal expression and intention in the artworks? How does Anna Chave critique this desire in her essay, "Minimalism and Biography"? Please be as specific and detailed as possible in your response.

Minimalists tend to call themselves literalists. The characteristics of a minimalist piece of art lie with the use of industrial materials, and the overwhelming lack of the artists hand within the piece. When looking at works such as Carl Andre’s lever, a stack of 137 bricks lying on the ground, there is no clear expression of what the artist was trying to establish. It can not be observed by the viewer the expression the artist had when creating the piece or the intent behind it. There is no ‘higher meaning’ that transcends the surface of the object and how it relates to the space. Minimalism emerged from a 1960’s New York scene that held a distaste for Abstract Expressionism and other prior artistic movements, whom the ‘literalists’ felt to be feeble with expression. In a 1966 essay —— held to question 'the need for art to be obscured by the emotional and associative

There is no direct relationship established between the viewer and the artist. The artists only relationship is to the materials they have selected, it is completely up to the viewers senses to distinguish their own immediate response in relation to the piece. Maurice Merleau- Ponty is a french philosopher who lends himself to the artistic movement in his focus on the human experience. At the core of Merleau-Ponty's philosophy, it studies the foundation in observing and engaging in the world that surrounds oneself. This observational study is known as Phenomenology. Phenomenology is one of the core values of a minimalist piece, because depending on the position of the viewer in relation to the piece, the experience of observation may differ