Red and Mark Rothko Essay Example

Red and Mark Rothko Paper Roger Kimball’s essay â€Å"Inventing Mark Rothko† begins simply with a quote from Hamlet in which the Queen responds to Hamlet’s inquiry â€Å"Do you see nothing here? † by saying â€Å"Nothing at all; yet all that is I see† (Kimball 55). This enigmatic quote very succinctly sums up the enigma that is Mark Rothko, a Russia-American representative painter of New York School from 1950s to 1960s. Rothko’s signature style is distinctive combination of â€Å"abstractness, simplicity, and sensuous color† (Kimball 59) and misty rectangular fields of color and light. Although many critics, like Harold Rosenberg, disagree, Rothko fought the idea that his works were abstract for the entirety of his artistic career. To reference the quote from Hamlet, what did Rothko see in his art? What was his intention? Are these questions possible to answer? Using John Logan’s play Red as well as Rothko’s own essays on art and aesthetics, both a picture of Rothko’s vision and a rationalization of his insistence that his art is realism are possible to create and it is apparent that Rothko intended a separation between the art and the viewer and for the art to exist as an independent entity separate from human emotion that places art in the realm of abstraction. Yet in the documentary film Rothkos Rooms, ironically, Rothko also envisioned his art causing â€Å"the same religious experience as I had when I painted them† (Rooms). We will write a custom essay sample on Red and Mark Rothko specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Red and Mark Rothko specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Red and Mark Rothko specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It seems that, according to Rothko himself, what a viewer sees in a painting or what emotions the painting evokes has no bearing on the painting itself. These emotions within the admirer of art are often placed upon the art itself as a way to define the art. However, Rothko might argue that one is not able to define his paintings any more than one might be able to objectively define a human being (Rothko 63). The art itself is the evoker of emotions not the other way around. Rothko seems to have argued that his art has a specific, concrete meaning, which can be explained by the similarity between admiring the beauty of a woman and the beauty of a painting. Rothko wrote that the problem with speaking of art qualitatively—for instance giving a painting the quality â€Å"beautiful†Ã¢â‚¬â€creates a category for beauty itself to exist (Rothko 62). However, Kimball argues that beauty, like the concepts of â€Å"truth† and â€Å"morality† is an abstraction itself because these terms are â€Å"apart from concrete existence† (Kimball 60). He also argues that Rothko’s classic paintings are immediate (Kimball 60) because their meanings are concrete—they are purposed. Rothko’s paintings, Rothko himself might argue, exist with the force of human existence. In the Scene 4 of John Logan’s play the Red, Rothko yells at his assistant Ken, â€Å"you know the problem with those painters? It’s exactly what you said. They are painting for this moment right now. And that’s all. It’s nothing but zeitgeist art† (Logan 33). This representation of Rothko shows how Rothko himself might have differentiated his own art from the art of painters like Andy Warhol. Based on Rothko’s essay The Artists Dilemma and this quote from Logan’s play, Rothko would have argued that paintings like those of Warhol’s are the real abstractions because they are based on a particular moment in time. An individual moment, alienated from the whole history of time, is truly apart from concrete existence. Existence is more the totality of time, space, and history and Rothkos paintings are, as he seems to have suggested, as purposed as any living creature. In â€Å"The De-definition of Art† by Harold Rosenberg, he argues against this idea, saying that â€Å"[Rothko’s] were the first ‘empty’ paintings by an American to make an impact on the public, perhaps because his emotionally charged reds, blues, browns, black-greens succeeded in stirring up feelings—awe, anguish, release—too deeply buried to be brought to the surface by visual metaphors† (Rosenberg 105). With this definition, Rosenberg argues that the viewer and the painting itself are interconnected and the painting can hold no objective existence independent of the viewer. When the audience views the painting and experiences these emotions, it attaches these emotions to the painting. However, Rothko argued that to speak of art in this way—qualitatively—is to give these emotions themselves an independent existence (Rothko 62). Rosenberg called Rothko’s style an â€Å"all-embracing symbolic format† (Rosenberg 107). Rosenberg essentially equated Rothko’s paintings with a literary metaphor in which one thing—a painting in this instance—stands for something wholly different, acting as a symbol. Most dictionaries agree on the definition of the word â€Å"symbol† as a physical object that stands for an abstraction or a sign with some specific meaning. Rosenberg’s terminology may then not be totally off kilter. Does not Rothko himself argue that paintings often evoke particular abstract feelings in the admirer? In this way, are not paintings like symbols, standing in as physical objects for abstract emotions? —not exactly. To view art in this way is to say that the artist intended for an artwork to be symbolic of, let’s say, the sublime. Yet, the viewers, experiencing a piece for the first time, come naked in their emotions as a child experiencing the world for the first time. Whatever emotions the viewer might feel are a product of their own mind rather than a product of the art itself. This is where Rosenberg is most incorrect and where he diverges from Rothko’s apology of his art.

History of Gamelan Indonesian Music and Dance

History of Gamelan Indonesian Music and Dance Across Indonesia, but particularly on the islands of Java and Bali, gamelan is the most popular form of traditional music. A gamelan ensemble consists of a variety of metal percussion instruments, usually made of bronze or brass, including xylophones, drums, and gongs. It may also feature bamboo flutes, wooden stringed instruments, and vocalists, but the focus is on the percussion. The name gamelan comes from gamel, a Javanese word for a type of hammer used by a blacksmith. Gamelan instruments are often made of metal, and many are played with hammer-shaped mallets, as well. Although metal instruments are expensive to make, compared with those of wood or bamboo, they will not mold or deteriorate in Indonesias hot, steamy climate. Scholars suggest that this may be one of the reasons that gamelan developed, with its signature metallic sound. Where and when was gamelan invented? How has it changed over the centuries? Origins of Gamelan Gamelan seems to have developed early in the history of what is now Indonesia. Unfortunately, however, we have very few good sources of information from the early period. Certainly, gamelan seems to have been a feature of court life during the 8th to 11th centuries, among the Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms of Java, Sumatra, and Bali. For example, the great Buddhist monument of Borobudur, in central Java, includes a bas-relief depiction of a gamelan ensemble from the time of the Srivijaya Empire, c. 6th-13th centuries CE. The musicians play stringed instruments, metal drums, and flutes. Of course, we do not have any record of what the music these musicians were playing sounded like, sadly. Classical Era Gamelan During the 12th to 15th centuries, the Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms began to leave more complete records of their doings, including their music. Literature from this era mentions the gamelan ensemble as an important element of court life, and further relief carvings on various temples support the importance of metal percussion music during this period. Indeed, members of the royal family and their courtiers were all expected to learn how to play gamelan and were judged on their musical accomplishments as much as their wisdom, bravery, or physical appearance. The Majapahit Empire (1293-1597) even had a government office in charge of supervising the performing arts, including gamelan. The arts office oversaw the construction of musical instruments, as well as scheduling performances at the court. During this period, inscriptions and bas-reliefs from Bali show that the same types of musical ensembles and instruments were prevalent there as in Java; this is not surprising since both islands were under the control of the Majapahit emperors. During the Majapahit era, the gong made its appearance in Indonesian gamelan. Likely imported from China, this instrument joined other foreign additions such as stitched-skin drums from India and bowed strings from Arabia in some types of gamelan ensembles. The gong has been the longest-lasting and most influential of these imports. Music and the Introduction of Islam During the 15th century, the people of Java and many other Indonesian islands gradually converted to Islam, under the influence of Muslim traders from the Arabian peninsula and south Asia. Fortunately for gamelan, the most influential strain of Islam in Indonesia was Sufism, a mystical branch that values music as one of the pathways to experiencing the divine. Had a more legalistic brand of Islam been introduced, it might have resulted in the extinction of gamelan in Java and Sumatra. Bali, the other major center of gamelan, remained predominantly Hindu. This religious schism weakened the cultural ties between Bali and Java, although trade continued between the islands throughout the 15th to 17th centuries. As a result, the islands developed different forms of gamelan. Balinese gamelan began to emphasize virtuosity and quick tempos, a trend later encouraged by Dutch colonists. In keeping with Sufi teachings, Javas gamelan tended to be slower in tempo and more meditative or trance-like. European Incursions In the mid-1400s, the first European explorers reached Indonesia, intent on elbowing their way into the rich Indian Ocean spice and silk trade. The first to arrive were the Portuguese, who started out with small-scale coastal raids and piracy but managed to capture the key straits at Malacca in 1512. The Portuguese, along with the Arab, African, and Indian slaves they brought with them, introduced a new variety of music into Indonesia. Known as kroncong, this new style combined gamelan-like intricate and interlocking musical patterns with western instrumentation, such as the ukulele, cello, guitar, and violin. Dutch Colonization and Gamelan In 1602, a new European power made its way into Indonesia. The powerful Dutch East India Company ousted the Portuguese and began to centralize power over the spice trade. This regime would last until 1800 when the Dutch crown took over directly. Dutch colonial officials left only a few good descriptions of gamelan performances. Rijklof van Goens, for example, noted that the king of Mataram, Amangkurat I (r. 1646-1677), had an orchestra of between thirty and fifty instruments, primarily gongs. The orchestra played on Mondays and Saturdays when the king entered the court for a type of tournament. van Goens describes a dance troupe, as well, of between five and nineteen maidens, who danced for the king to the gamelan music. Gamelan in Post-Independence Indonesia Indonesia became fully independent of the Netherlands in 1949. The new leaders had the unenviable task of creating a nation-state out of a collection of different islands, cultures, religions, and ethnic groups. The Sukarno regime established publicly-funded gamelan schools during the 1950s and 1960s, in order to encourage and sustain this music as one of the national art forms of Indonesia. Some Indonesians objected to this elevation of a musical style associated primarily with Java and Bali as a national art form; in a multiethnic, multicultural country, of course, there are no universal cultural properties. Today, gamelan is an important feature of shadow puppet shows, dances, rituals, and other performances in Indonesia. Although stand-alone gamelan concerts are unusual, the music may also be heard frequently on the radio. Most Indonesians today have embraced this ancient musical form as their national sound. Sources: Bali and Beyond: A History of Gamelan.Gamelan: Venerable Lake of Honey, University of MichiganJavanese Gamelan: A History of Gamelan MusicSpiller, Henry. Gamelan: The Traditional Sounds of Indonesia, Volume 1, ABC-CLIO, 2004.Sumarsam. Gamelan: Cultural Interaction and Musical Development in Central Java, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.