“When I was a younger man, art was a lonely thing,” Mark Rothko wrote. He then proceeded to contrast it with the modern life, supposedly full of energy and actions .Yet, he notes, it is a world in which “many are driven to this life are searching for pockets of silence, where they can root and grow.”
While some identify his art as abstract art, Rothko went back to Greek myths as “a way of grounding himself in the basics of European culture and European history. From then on, he was able to evolve and find his own language,” says Cohen-Solal.
OVID.tv’s THE SILENCE OF MARK ROTHKO Shows Us Rothko’s Spiritual Dimension
The film immerses us in Rothko’s mindset. Layers of paint drop, scratches, and rusty, crooked nails are sticking out. On this old wooden floor, the only thing that signals time and movement is the changing shadow of the window. Just like this close-up shot of the floor of Rothko’s studio in New York, THE SILENCE OF MARK ROTHKO frequently uses architectural shots and photographs that emphasize the potent magnitude of stillness of New York City as well as Rothko’s paintings. The film depicts an empty hallway, abandoned furniture on the street, and windows and a detailed corner of a gray building – all static. In his writing, Rothko contrasts the modern time – active, full of life, busy – with the older times that exist in memory— writings, paintings, and photographs. The film utilizes contrasts to recapture the artist’s tension to the audience and connect the incompatibles: movement and stillness, noise and silence, modern and history, and intellect and emotion. “But precisely in the art they come together,” says Kanz.
