I was discussing the topic of my essay with Mike, and he suggested to look at Mark Rothko if I want to explore theories relevant to synesthesia. He is well-known for his abstract expressionism paintings characterised by block colours. Rothko believed his art could free unconscious energies, previously liberated by mythological images, symbols and rituals.
The cult value of his paintings is reliant on the context they are exhibited in, evidenced by the Rothko Chapel where people could cry at the moment they were looking at his set of paintings. Rothko thinks that the intended meaning of a painting should not be in the way in the relationship between the artist and the audience.
He loved the abstract for its lack of representation and urged his audience to seek clarity and personal spirituality by projecting their own internal ideas onto his canvas. He revered the ”elimination of all obstacles between the painter and the idea and between the idea and the observer.”
narrative based synesthesia
Dot and the Line is rather unconventional way for cartoonist animator, Chuck Jones, to tell a story using shapes. The story is adapted from a book well-known for its use of mathematical pun to the character driven narrative. The staging is planned through such that it can best portray the emotions that the director wants to convey. The stills from this film pasted on the concertina are examples techniques used to express emotion. Limitations of the flat cutouts animation with no characters gives room for experimentation to get the emotion across through engaging narration and the appropriate screen composition.
music based synesthesia
Oskar Fischinger an engineer-turned-experimental-animator who pioneers the music based synesthesia approach to experimental animation. He uses paper cutouts tied onto thin wires to make his animation titled: 'An Optical Poem'. The animation demonstrates a good use of the variations in form, colour and movement of the basic shapes through space. It successfully translates Fischinger's impression on the classical music to the audience's subconsciousness through something that is abstract.
Boogie Doodle is one of Norman McLaren's experimentation of making a camera-less animation. McLaren is a Scotland-born experimental animator who holds up an opinion that what triggers most experimental animation is the limitations and low-budget equipment. His work reflects this opinion as they all relies on mimesis and movements rather than realistically painted backgrounds and still images. Through Boogie Doodle, he has evidenced that the simple aesthetic balances out elaborate movements. Although synesthesia is subjective, McLaren's manages to make movements of the doodles coherent to the music in the sequential images painted on the 35mm film that is engaging to watch even in the eye of the masses.
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