Minimalism, subjectivity, and aesthetics: rethinking the anti-aesthetic tradition in late-modern art

AbstractMinimalism, Subjectivity and Aesthetics: Rethinking the Anti-Aesthetic Tradition in Late-modern Art.Minimalism is routinely interpreted as anti-subjective, anti-expressive and anti-aesthetic. This paper challenges this interpretation by closely examining two accounts of minimalism: Rosalind Krauss's article of 1973, “Sense and Sensibility,” and Thierry de Duve's amplification and refutation of aspects of Krauss' argument in his 1983 article, “Performance Here and Now.” Each believes that minimalism presents a model of subjectivity, and each produces an account of subjectivity that is both embedded in the work and yet produced by the viewer's interaction with it. Krauss and de Duve do not agree on the theory of the subject that Minimalism enacts, despite agreeing that a model of subjectivity is what is at stake in minimalist art.One can clearly see here the revival of Hegel's claim that the task of art is to “present man with himself” as well as a renewed focus on the nature of aesthetic reception....