Interview: COLLIDE24

COLLIDE24

Interview w/ Brent van den Elshout, 2023

Amsterdam’s Minimal Collective explores the power of multidisciplinary community building

As with many terms in art, minimalism is subject to various interpretations that are often strongly influenced by personal experiences and associations. In their recently-published revisionist history of minimalism’s transformative rise musicologists Kerry O’Brien and William Robin trace minimalism in music back to psychedelic counterculture. The book weaves together the story of Steve Reich, Arvo Pärt and others who developed their very own concepts of minimalism in music. It ends with a chapter on futures, including an interview with drone band Sunn O))) or an essay by Philip Sherburne on ambient jazz. After all, minimalism remains hard to grasp and define, and has been the matter of constant reinterpreting. With a razor-sharp interplay of geometric and organic shapes, Minimal Collective’s immersive online platform is the gate to the Collective’s very own and forward-looking approach to the term.

In 2020, Brent approached graphic designer Tim Tijink on Instagram, fascinated by his visual work. This was also the moment that Chris Scholz (Strategic Creative, Curator) and Laura Krabbe (Managing Editor) joined the team. “From this point on our core really began to take shape and our plans took off. We jumped on a phone call that same day to talk about the ideas and things started from there. Minimal Collective already existed back then but under a completely different visual identity and output. Back then there were some thoughts on how to proceed with it and transform it into something new and more professional, which made the new identity one of the key pillars. Step by step we built the philosophy of the rotating wheel, the grid, the logo, the typography into the system we’re working with today,” Tim remembers. Read more...

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