Rothko Chapel interior.
Rothko thought completing the paintings was “torment”. He said the result was to create “something you don't want to look at”. This makes me think of two spiritual practices, one from Stoicism and the other from Buddhism. In Stoicism there is a practice author William B. Irvine calls negative visualization (in his book, A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy). In Buddhism, there is a meditation technique called “reflections on repulsiveness” (Patikulamanasikara), which includes things like dwelling on the image of bloated corpses.
But this dark and negative interpretation is only surface deep. Rothko himself nevertheless said that his intention was to “illuminate” the chapel with his paintings. For such “dark and impenetrable” paintings, Rothko's meaning could not have been literal. Rather, he no doubt was referring to another kind of illumination.
Slightly less negative is the notice that Rothko's paintings represent isolation, solitude, and hermeticism. Solitude, of course, can not only be beautiful, but a necessary component of spiritual exploration. Nodelman says, “The beholder experiences himself or herself as an infinitesimal speck in an immeasurably greater cosmic vastness...” For those who have read my previous article on the music of John Boswell and seen his videos, consider the elegant manner in which this vastness can be presented as inspirational and awe-inspiring. I am also reminded of another past article, in which I quote the Taoist Chuang-Tzu who said, “But now that you have emerged from your narrow sphere and have seen the great ocean, you know your own insignificance, and I can speak to you of great principles.” Indeed, this feeling of vastness is certainly generated by Rothko's paintings.
But let us not forget the obvious. The most notable thing about Rothko's work here is the complete removal of forms, or symbols, and of representation. Nodelman writes, “Most of the obvious features through which paintings have excited the imagination and interest of the viewer are studiously absent...” as if to say, this is not a place to come and be excited or entertained as you are so constantly assaulted by popular media on a constant basis.
At the dedication of the paintings, sponsor Dominique de Menil said, “We are cluttered with images and only abstract art can bring us to the threshold of the divine.” He referred to the paintings as an “impenetrable fortress” of color.
Nodelman continues, “The work seems to afford no point of imaginative entry; instead the frustrated viewer is thrown back upon himself...” as if to say, the answers you seek aren't to be found out here, in a painting or your external world – they are within you. Indeed, surrounded by this “impenetrable fortress” of paintings, the viewer is left with nowhere else to retreat than inward.
[Part 3: Stripping away the iconography]
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