About the Artist
Mark Rothko was an Abstract Expressionist painter whose early interest in mythic landscapes gave way to mature works featuring large, hovering blocks of color on colored grounds.
About the Work
For Rothko, color evoked emotion. Therefore each of Rothko's works was intended to evoke different meanings depending on the viewer. His colors developed into more somber ones as his mental state declined throughout his life, as seen in this piece.
The Approach to Recreation
Emotion is very volatile. Not only does it change easily, but the evoked emotion from movements such as color field paintings is also different for each viewer. I aimed to create a piece that can not only represent the unpredictable oscillation of emotion, but can also play with the viewer's interpretation of it.
The Product
My final product was a GIF. The base frame is a 5 color gradient that matched the colors of the original piece. An additional 59 frames were created with subtle changes to hue and saturation, then all the frames were compiled into an attempt at a smooth transition between those subtle changes.
My Reflection
During the process of creating the reproduction, I began to appreciate color field and other similar movements more. I understand that there are a lot of people who don't acknowledge a meaning behind pieces such as No.2 Blue, Red, Green. I always recognized that there was importance to these kind of pieces, but never cared to fully explore their meaning and therefore could not appreciate them. While creating the digital version, I realized how much a small change can alter the feel of an artwork. It made me understand that for different viewers, even ones that come from similar backgrounds and upbringings, these artworks can mean something very unique. For color field paintings, it's much less about what the painting physically is, and much more about what the painting can mean to each individual viewer.
Frank Liao
