Why is minimalism "theater"?

Liz Kenny

2-D FND 115

Nov 1, 2009

Question on Donald Judd

Minimalism is theater because it is purely artwork that is meant to push the limits and categorizing of artwork and art styles. Donald Judd’s pieces are very original. Although at a first look one might want to call them a sculpture, the way his multiple squares and pieces that make up his work as a whole are mounted on the walls remind viewers of paintings. His original style of art entertains the mind by getting his audience to question what style his artwork can be considered. Even though he claims his artwork is in its own definitive category, his work still provokes his artwork’s viewers to think about how they would categorize it, and the reasons why. By denouncing paintings and sculptures so much Judd is able to draw attention to himself and his work. His pieces push artwork into new areas by showing artists that new styles and forms of art are still being created. Judd’s work is so memorable because it entertains the mind and creates its own style for itself, causing his minimalistic work to be considered theatrical.

One can also consider the minimalism artwork of Judd to be theater because his artwork itself puts on, in a way, an act. Judd gives off the impression that his pieces should be categorized into their own art style category when in fact he admits his work resembles sculptures and is nearer to being categorized as a painting. His artwork, although it is three dimensional, is made up of the rectangular planes he negatively talks about throughout Specific Objects in order to dissociate his work from paintings. He also denounces sculptures for their definitive form and sense of singleness when his work of numerous boxes and cubes ends up creating one artwork as a whole also. In a way Judd gives off the impression that he is hypocritical. In fact his work is more similar to paintings and sculptures than he may want to believe, making his theory that his artwork is totally original and must be classified in its own category an act one could refer to as theatrical.