Concurrents – Environmental Psychology: Visual Complexity, Stress, and Minimalism
Minimalism is getting a lot of attention. Design books/websites/etc. packed with photos of a sparse aesthetic abound. Marie Kondo leads a flock of swarming “clutter-busters.” There are oodles of books, websites and apps out there imploring us to get rid of stuff and detailing how we should do just that. Some of this drive to minimalism may be a push to reduce the visual complexity in our world. Sure, some people have way, way too much stuff; some individuals have a real and very serious issue with hoarding. They need to remove physical material from their lives; it’s crucial for their mental, and sometimes physical health. The push for minimalism that’s clogging media outlets is for the rest of us, the “non-hoarders.” Having too much, or too little, going on visually around us amps up our stress levels. The middle magic level of moderate visual complexity, the one where our …
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