"I rush to the door and attempt to pry it open, the door is firmly latched. I sink to my knees in despair. I'm guilty of countless misdeeds and under the death penalty. I place my face in my hands and prepare myself for execution. I'm overcome with guilt, tears of remorse fill my eyes and I cry out... I deserve to die " "I feel a hand on my shoulder and expect to see my executioner. I look up to a large hooded man dressed in black He extends his hand I reluctantly grasp his hand and expect to be led out to my execution. The hooded man motions to the open door and says... you're free " ..".I...

What is minimalism? The answer to this simple question has defied simple answers. In this highly readable history of minimalist art James Meyer argues that 'minimalism' was not a coherent movement but a field of overlapping and sometimes opposed practices. He traces in comprehensive detail the emergence of six figures associated with the development - Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, Robert Morris and Anne Truitt - and how the notion of minimalism came to be constructed around their art in the 1960s. Despite distinctive differences in method and points of view, Meyer shows how...