The drawing seems to reference Minimalist painter Agnes Martin in its lightness, and grid-like presentation. 144 is one of 200 drawings he made whilst back and forth between Paris and New York in the 1960’s. His dedication and consistency was not so unlike a meditative practice, the projects he created highlighting the daily and the almost mundane, but with some slight variation. This can be seen in the sheer amount of works he created, up to about 3,000 individual pieces. 144 by On Kawaraįamously known for being defined solely by his work (his absence felt at his own exhibitions) On Kawara documented his own life meticulously and without fanfare. The Routledge Companion to Butoh Performance says “Thus, a certain moment does not become obsolete with time.” In this way, everything is present.ħ. That's why I use things like sand or water that bring tangible qualities into my work.” Unlike other works on stage, and much unlike our own modern concept of time, Sankai Juku works to blur our idea of time existing in separate places, combining seasons and breaking linear structures. An interview with Amagatsu in WochiKochi magazine he says, “I like the idea of stage art that changes with time. By the end of the dance, the sand has moved around and the audience can clearly see the impact of the dancers movement. In their performance, Umusuna (an old word for place of birth), a layer of sand covers the stage and falls from above continuously in the center stage. The butoh dance group, Sankai Juku, founded in 1975 by Ushio Amagatsu, utilizes the stage and minimalistic materials to tell a story in addition to the choreography of bodies. The use of certain materials to create a more livable environment in the chaos of Tokyo is arguably one of minimalistic taste, a desire to live neatly despite the ever-changing, growing, and fleeting neighborhood outside.įind out more about Japanese architecture Inside 5 Timeless Traditional Japanese Houses. The steel plating of the walls was intentionally designed to create more interior space. This grouping of small buildings, ten in total, emphasizes the solidarity of a singular room, and yet its thin walls seem to imply the crumbling of a private space that unfolds into something shared. The Moriyama House does this by creating the possibility of communal space, highlighting the relationship between private and public. In sprawling cities like Tokyo, the Japanese house adapts and gracefully (at times) attempts to hold a certain space of flexibility and function. Many are quick to point to Japanese architecture when it comes to the distilling nature of its minimalism, often also associated with the modern and inherently compelling.

Japanese minimalist decor