Nothing is Something

   If something is nothingness then how can we see it and perceive it as something? This concept of nothingness can be perceived two different ways from a philosophical standpoint and the artist Mark Rothko has captured the ability of being able to represent this “nothingness” in his works of art. This initial approach to this concept of nothingness is that nothingness is a nonbeing and only becomes alive in a way due to human consciousness. The other approach is that nothingness is the prerequisite for all beings and that we have all experienced nothingness at one point or another in our lives.


   The critics of the art of Rothko argue that he creates works of art that verge on being nothing because of the simplicity of the entities that compose the works of art and their monotone and monochrome nature. Thus, the author of this critique argues that the work of Rothko reflects one of the above philosophical ideals, the ideal that nothingness is the prerequisite for everything and that every entity forms from nothingness.


   The exemplified painting is Rothko’s “Unknown Space”. In this painting a man enters a café looking for his partner and does not see him standing there in the business of the café. However, as the man continues to look onward, each aspect of the café begins to fade and disappear out into the background. This therefore shows that the nothingness, which is the background of the café and the absentee nature of his partner, is the root of negation. The absent nature of his partner is causing the rest of the painting and objects to fall into the background and become nothing. The classic style of Rothko, which features several rectangles emerging from a background of various tints of the same color, also illustrates this idea of the development of something from the nothingness. The rectangles, which are a visible something, all emerge from this vast space of color, or nothingness. This can be seen in the works entitled “White Center” and “Blue, Green, and Brown”. By using space, color, and coverage the author argues that Rothko was able to manipulate the paintings in such manners that they reflected nothingness.


   With respect to space, the author argues that Rothko implemented a floating aspect to his paintings which allowed for the nothingness to show through. It is said that by avoiding the four conventional aspects of what to do to manipulate a three dimensional space, Rothko was able to further bring to aspect of nothingness to the forefront of the mind of the reader. This “floating” quality is seen in his painting “White Center”. The four rectangles appear to hover over a solid color background. By them hovering, it makes the background appear as a void space, and therefore nothing, because the rectangles have emerged from it leaving the background space empty of “somethingness”.


   Color was also used by Rothko to show the feature of nothingness. In his paintings it was very unclear as to where one form began and where the other ended. Rothko blurred the colors to such a point and used colors of such a similar shade it was unclear as to whether an object was part of the background or part of the object being focused upon. This is best exemplified in the painting, “Blue, Green, and Brown”. The rectangles are colored to a point as the where it becomes unclear as to where the background stands and the rectangles emerge.


   The use of coverage was also manipulated by this author. In his works, Rothko would layer color upon color up until the point to where the only thing that made it clear that what one was looking at was a painting was the frame or the borders of the easel. He would make it so that one would not be able to see where one color started and the other ended. This all worked towards the goal of showing that every color and every shade that was seen came out of the background of nothingness which was just a barrage of colors. The paining entitled “Blue, Green, and Brown: also shows this for the entire painting is covered in a hue of blue making the emergence of the something quality more apparent that it came from nothing.


   Now, you may be getting bored and are probably saying to yourself, I am an athlete and why do I care about art, you need to step back and realize that this applies to you to. When you are in practice and are running or doing a drill, these seem like nothing, right? Or when your coach tells you to eat healthy, that seems empty, correct? These drills, conditioning exercises, and healthy eating habits are your space, color, and coverage. These qualities that all seem like nothing are actually something, for they are like the hazy, indiscriminate background that allows for the distinct abilities you apply in your sport to emerge from. By applying these qualities to your athletic discipline you are allowing your skill level to be taken to a higher complexity which makes you an overall better athlete.


   In summation, this article states that the works of art of Rothko all derive from the desire to show nothingness and how all objects stem from this nothingness. This belief of nothingness that is being portrayed by Rothko is based upon a philosophical belief and is seen in the paintings through the use of color, space, and coverage. Therefore is nothing really something or is nothing simply nothing?

• Kosoi, Natalie. "Nothingness Made Visible: The Case of Rothko's Paintings." Art Journal 64.2 (2005): 21-31. Wilson Web. H.W. Wilson Company, 2005. Web. 30 Nov. 2010. <http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/getResults.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.34>.