Light Cue 23

Note: This post originally appeared here in 2007.

The aesthetics of Minimalism are at once precise and freeing. Precise because as one removes extraneous elements from a work what remains takes on increasing significance. Freeing because the relationships are so clear that one can shift and recombine them in a multitude of ways allowing the multiplicity of experience to shine through.

So often the theatre is dominated by a kind of maximalism. A desire to put everything possible into a single work as if by desperation trying to contain all of experience in a few hours performance. The result is often the opposite of what is intended. Rather that giving the fullness of experience, each element is diminished as it all fades into a wash of gray, bland and undistinguished.

This is not to say that minimalism does not employ a rigid and tightly controlled grayscale, but it does so knowing that the fullness of each of those few grays will come across. The depth and subtlety of slight variation becomes a thing of power and strength rather than a faltering weakness.

To work from a minimalist aesthetic requires rigor and discipline. Because while there is a great deal of freedom, if any single element is out of place the work implodes under the weight of its own delicate structure.

Every move must be precise and calculated. At the same time one must allow for room to breathe. For play. Minimalism defines itself not in relation to itself but in relation to the varied multiplicity of the world around it. A blank page only appears blank when surrounded by the frantic modern world. Taken on its own the blank white page is a universe unto itself, filled with color and texture and infinite stories. The filled page is far more fixed and reduced in scale by comparison.

It is interesting to me how much the theatre of the Greeks lends itself to a minimalist aesthetic. When I worked on Medea we employed a very strict minimalism with incredibly slight changes in angle or color. With Antigone we opened up the palette more allowing for greater, yet still a very slight, range of color. This control of the color palette cause the shifts in angle and direction of the light to be quite significant.

In a minimalist aesthetic one often takes a single characteristic or element that remains static around which all other elements rotate. In painting perhaps one employs the use of strict linearity but then gives great variety and contrast to the colors, with vibrant and bold strokes.

In Antigone a tightly controlled color palette gave rise to a great variety in angle, direction and shadow. The simplicity of the setting allowed for a high contrast with the costume. Finding these points of control is what makes possible the freedom in a minimalist work. A clear centerpoint is the basis of minimalism.

The aesthetics of Minimalism are at once precise and freeing. Precise because as one removes extraneous elements from a work what remains takes on increasing significance. Freeing because the relationships are so clear that one can shift and recombine them in a multitude of ways allowing the multiplicity of experience to shine through.

So often the theatre is dominated by a kind of maximalism. A desire to put everything possible into a single work as if by desperation trying to contain all of experience in a few hours performance. The result is often the opposite of what is intended. Rather that giving the fullness of experience, each element is diminished as it all fades into a wash of gray, bland and undistinguished.

This is not to say that minimalism does not employ a rigid and tightly controlled grayscale, but it does so knowing that the fullness of each of those few grays will come across. The depth and subtlety of slight variation becomes a thing of power and strength rather than a faltering weakness.

To work from a minimalist aesthetic requires rigor and discipline. Because while there is a great deal of freedom, if any single element is out of place the work implodes under the weight of its own delicate structure.

Every move must be precise and calculated. At the same time one must allow for room to breathe. For play. Minimalism defines itself not in relation to itself but in relation to the varied multiplicity of the world around it. A blank page only appears blank when surrounded by the frantic modern world. Taken on its own the blank white page is a universe unto itself, filled with color and texture and infinite stories. The filled page is far more fixed and reduced in scale by comparison.

It is interesting to me how much the theatre of the Greeks lends itself to a minimalist aesthetic. When I worked on Medea we employed a very strict minimalism with incredibly slight changes in angle or color. With Antigone we opened up the palette more allowing for greater, yet still a very slight, range of color. This control of the color palette makes the shifts in angle and direction of the light became quite significant.

In a minimalist aesthetic one often takes a single characteristic or element that remains static around which all other elements rotate. In painting perhaps one employs the use of strict linearity but then gives great variety and contrast to the colors, with vibrant and bold strokes.

In Antigone a tightly controlled color palette gave rise to a great variety in angle, direction and shadow. The simplicity of the setting allowed for a high contrast with the costume. Finding these points of control is what makes possible the freedom in a minimalist work. A clear centerpoint is the basis of minimalism.