Dadaism was born out of social outrage surrounding World War I. The artist or Dadaists felt that art was the intellectual byproduct of a civilization and if the world was making this horrible war then the art of these terrible cultures should be eradicated. Dadaism was created to end art, to end painting, to end writing and to end music. Very Nihilistic!

They were many forms of Dadaism; collage, chance operations, using found objects and a variety of others.  Their main goal was to create nothing obviously they failed however Dadaism inspired movements such as Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism and Pop art.

A great Dadaist said, “It’s not dada that is nonsense – but the essence of our age that is nonsense” in 1915, this could be 2006 as well. 

Abstract Expressionism was a painting movement that looked like an accident. People have always said:  “my little brother could do that,” “it looks like a big mess” or “you call this art?” about the art of this movement.  Abstract Expressionism is almost pure art in that it is only concerned with the elements of visual expression such as balance, color, composition, contrast and rhythm. Though it might initially look otherwise, it is actually highly planned art. Abstract Expressionists were concerned with making a purely abstract image. Usually there was no effort made to represent subject matter.  
Each artist would find their own way of making subject-less art that was artistically correct. Some used the action approach, like a Zen master repeating brush strokes and movements until their art became an automatic subconscious creation. Others used the color-field method that transcended wall and paper into an abstract meditation. 

Minimalist art is about artistic elements: balance, value, color and repetition to name a few.
The viewer may desire further meaning, that’s cool. What do you think these paintings means? How does the art make you feel? Does the art work remind you of something? If you can’t answer these questions, you’re not thinking, keep walking. If you can relate on any level to this art then you understand Minimalism.