last night i realized i’m a great big fat minimalist.

i’m not sure why this felt like a revelation. the most inspiring aerial piece i saw recently was performed to a metronome. i’m wearing all white in my favorite self-portraits. i stood in front of sol lewitt’s wall drawings at dia:beacon for ages. when last night’s MC told the audience, “you can clap when you see someting exciting. it’s not a beckett play,” i protested to a friend, “mine’s a beckett play!” (though i felt warm and supported when the audience clapped for me.)

but i realized it last night because while the other aerialists in the show were beautiful, strong, talented, and fantastic, i wasn’t creatively inspired by any of them. too much makeup, too much costuming, too many props, too much melodrama, too much showiness compared to what i’m interested in creating.

of course, minimalism isn’t the only aesthetic that appeals to me. but my attraction to it is a good thing to remember about myself. i’m working my way through twyla tharp’s painfully annoying the creative habit, and i give her props for helping me listen to and understand what inspires and motivates me as an artist.