Emotional response
I chose Mark Rothko's work largely because it confused me. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about it. Take the example on the right, I can't work out if it's shallow or deep, warm or cold, dangerous or enticing. This piece allows for so much and yet gives no firm answers. It contradicts itself, and therefore I think it's the perfect piece to explore further, in a more interactive way.
Sourced Image
Sourced Images
My design for this piece was inspired by a piece called States of Mind by Veronica Ann Janssens. States of Mind is a room filled with mist, lit with different colours throughout. This thick coloured mist prevents you from seeing clearly more that a few foot in front of you, creating this surreal infinite world. I want to use this same concept to explore the possibility of depth within Rothko's work. I also want to explore for myself how the colour effects the feel of the environment, both from a psychological sense (mood, safety, thoughts) and a physical sense (temperature, weight, resistance)
The design for this comprises of several tunnels filled with haze and lit in such a way that it creates blocks of colour for the audience to walk through. These blocks of colour will be arranged to emulate the different works of Rothko. The different lengths of tunnel are designed to stop the audience from predicting the paths lengths, meaning that they are both infinitely deep and incredibly shallow at the same time, the audience won't know which until they venture into them. The longest one features corners to further disorientate the participant, giving that feeling of being lost in the painting.
