پیکره (Sep 2024)
An Introduction to the Social History of Maximalism in Art Discourse
Abstract
Introduction: Maximalism, an apparent new style of attitude has deep roots in the social history of art, which is the opposite of minimalism. In other words, it is a critical approach and movement against minimalism and conceptual art. The social contexts of art throughout history have a significant role in the emergence and evolution of this style. These concepts can be rooted in the transition eras from the dark Middle Ages to the golden years of the Renaissance on the one hand, and the other hand, at a smaller scale, in the counterpart historical times within the 19th and 20th centuries, with common characteristics of transition from tough social, political and economic conditions. These historical times, with relatively similar situations, have constituted the historical path of the emergence and evolution of Minimalism, which has about 40 years of history under this title. This research problem seeks to understand which cultural and social contexts have influenced the evolution of this style within the late 20th and the 21st centuries as the research question. The current study aims to explain maximalist styles during their evolution, relying on the relevant local and demographic characteristics, by providing the following items: 1. an overview of the social history of maximalism and its definitions, 2. understanding the process of its formation and evolution in the social history of art, 3. defining its place in today's global art discourse, and finally by analyzing the content of maximalism, as a style that has influenced by variant social, cultural and political contexts in the process of creation, especially in the 20th century.Research Method: In this study, by applying a specific social history approach and a descriptive-analytical method, relying on reliable written documents, has been tried to address the social and historical contexts of maximalism in various artistic fields, following an introduction for maximalism.Findings: by a glance at the social history of human life, one can find that having a simple and minimal lifestyle under unwanted and imposed conditions in which the individual desires and personal expression are ignored will finally actuate to completely different conditions of maximal life. Therefore, the most important factor here is the dominant social and economic conditions, especially in the current century, which have caused the development and evolution of the maximalism style.Conclusion: The social history of maximalism and the development and evolution process to emerge in its current manifestation signifies that maximalism is the outcome of passing through difficult cultural, social, and economic conditions, and similarly the severe life situations resulting from these conditions, as a reaction to the imposed minimal life within the 20th century.
Keywords
