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A Rare Case of Less is More

Does the word MINIMALISM scare the heck out of you?  I will save you time and go to Wikipedia: The term “minimalist” is often applied colloquially to designate anything, which is spare or stripped to its essentials.

Well, let me tell you how it makes me feel…

A few weeks ago, the three girls from my family, my mom, my sister-in-law and I went to the symphony.  The program was delightful with the fabulous Sebastian Lang-Lessing conducting.  The opening piece of the program was by Estonian composer Arvo Part: “Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten”.  It sounded so fresh and beautiful!

It made me feel like I was observing a beautiful landscape somewhere in Ireland.  The air was rich, and with every breath I inhaled the mesmerizing complexity of the northern rainy air filled with pine, cider and grass elixirs…I could not really comprehend the vastness of the scenery unfolding in front of me.  In awe of the majesty of the moment, time stopped and colors and smells and beauty itself were left hanging in the air.  I secretly wished to never leave this moment in time.

Then, the music stopped and life came back with its perpetual motion. It takes us less time to make longer steps (leaps) and time passes unnoticed, unannounced, unappreciated…

Last week we casually walked through the Blue Star gallery space liking some works and feeling indifferent to others.  Around one corner there was a beautiful colorful wall.  It looked like an abstract landscape with a soft glow emanating from it.  In front of the wall there was a comfortable couch for tired spectators to sit down and relax…and we did.  And then, the painting came to life!  It pulled us in with its subtle changes of color and almost unnoticeable motions of lines.  We could not leave – we were in a state of awe, just like we were during that rainy landscape in Ireland…

Minimalism seems to be such a weird concept, but it works!  It dissects the elements down to the atoms or to the basic elements of the structure on any given subject.  This is where the repetitions come from… the patterns, which everything has. It makes you feel familiar and comfy; it makes you notice the subtleness of our world.  It is just like watching the subtle changes in air itself, where it is never the same, always slightly different.

My recent visits to Blue Star and the San Antonio Symphony presented me with the extraordinary experience of different media speaking the same language: “minimalism”.  Estonian composer Arvo Part and Mexican artist Rodolfo Choperena see the world in a similar way and I found myself a mesmerized spectator in between the two great works of art.

P.S. I recommend you open the artwork first on VIMEO and look at it on a full screen while listening to the music. Enjoy it! DO NOT BE AFRAID OF MINIMALISM – IT IS BEAUTIFUL!!!!

This is a link to his site…

12 years, 4 months ago Comments Off on A Rare Case of Less is More