The subreddit, known as r/minimalism, is a perfect place for anyone who appreciates simplicity in all its forms. Here, you can mostly find people sharing things related to this kind of art and lifestyle, whether it’s something they made themselves, found online and wanted to enjoy together, or simply thought of and wanted to talk about.

With over 1.4 million members, this minimalism community ranks among the top 1 percent of Reddit’s largest groups. Fittingly, it doesn’t have many rules, only asking its members not to advertise or post memes and, instead, to keep things civilized while sharing minimalism-related content.

Minimalism is a lifestyle, art, and design philosophy and a movement focusing on abstraction and simplicity. It was developed in the early 1960s in the USA, but facing a lot of resistance and criticism initially, it only started to really flourish in the 21st century.

But why did minimalism become as popular as it is now? Well, to answer this question, we looked into an article by The Minimalist Vegan, and they gave us a whole list of reasons explaining it.

The article tells us that the actual roots of this philosophy can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome, as well as Asia. There were quite a few philosophers who believed that material possessions are not necessary for happiness and satisfaction and that it’s enough to live a simple, purposeful life.

Buddhism also talks about happiness being found in simplicity and encourages people to live in the moment rather than worry about the future or dwell on the past. According to it, material possessions don’t bring fulfillment or lasting happiness as they’re temporary, and the satisfaction they bring is limited.

Now, with the internet connecting the whole globe, minimalism has taken the world by storm. The World Wide Web is the main factor that influenced the popularity of this movement as many people who start living this way begin to advocate for the benefits this lifestyle brings and share that online. 

The same goes for art, as the web makes it more visible and accessible. Professional and amateur artists, as well as those who find their works appealing, are able to share and see almost limitless content that is only a few clicks away.

Another heavy contributing factor is that we have we have a lot more stuff than we realize, which creates chaos and, in turn, stress. According to the article, on average, people own over 300,000 items per household, and with all that stuff, our brain is constantly trying to figure out a way to organize it all, and the results don’t last as life creates the mess over and over again.

Minimalism, on the other hand, focuses on "less is more" philosophy. It’s better to own fewer high-quality things that we really need and use than a lot of stuff that some of us don’t even remember owning, which breaks so much faster.

Minimalism also brings more financial freedom to its practitioners. Owning less stuff means spending less money maintaining it. In addition, focusing only on what’s important to you helps cut down most unnecessary expenses so your money ends up being spent in wiser ways. 

There is even something known as the Financial Independence and Retire Early (FIRE) community. People there focus on living with only what’s necessary for the short term to invest all they save and retire to live off the returns.

The article also tells us that nowadays, people tend to go for experience-led lives, choosing to spend less on fading happiness that material things bring and picking memories that will stay with them until the end instead. 

And lastly, there is minimalistic design. Whether interior, exterior, fashion, or even digital, this type of composition makes it easier for us to focus on what we’re looking for or what we find interesting. It is also aesthetically appealing as it doesn’t overcrowd our sensors and is timeless, so it’s unlikely to go out of style anytime soon. 

To sum it up, minimalism can be beautiful, and these pieces of art we saw here are proof of that. While also beneficial, it can certainly be enjoyed without directly participating in this movement or living by this philosophy. However, everything that’s in excess, even, ironically, minimalism, can become too much. 

Whether we like it or not, this simplicity is all around us. But it’s safe to assume that if you read this far into this article, it’s definitely somewhere up your alley. 

How did you like these artistic contributions? What do you think about minimalism? Drop down below and share your thoughts!