The song is a slow, deep and emotional one that connotes the feeling of being swallowed and being in a void. The haunting piano tones and sudden introduction of a cello creates a dark and eternal atmosphere that is intentionally meant to send people to sleep. Max Richter's Sleep album is a "personal lullaby for a frenetic world".
I initially looked at the works of Mark Rothko because of the way his paintings relate to the mood of the song.
The Colour Field paintings of Mark Rothko are an inspiration for the cover design due to the colours used and the brush strokes. The deep, dark colours add depth to the painting that relates to the feeling of emptiness and the "void" of Dream 3's atmosphere. The viewer gets lost in the vast blocks of colour that overwhelms and imposes itself on the viewer. The undefined colour boundaries signify almost the dream like state the song exudes where each part of the song flows into each other without any sudden interruption. Another characteristic of the above Colour Field paintings are the subtle colour choices that he utilises. The colours are very subtle however the transition between the two adds the depth and forces the viewer to look closer at the painting.
Mark Rothkos Colour Field paintings deep, dark colours and subtle tones could form the basis for a 7" sleeve design. The darkness relates to the feeling of being swallowed by the visual while the subtle variation in colour represents the slow melodic tones within the songs that gradually get introduced.
Continuing on from Mark Rothko's artwork, I did further research on other abstract expressionist and surreal artists that could potentially form the basis of the cover design.
Joan Miro works incorporate abstract forms that relate to the title of Max Richters song. When used as the cover design, they could represent the forms or represent ideas that people have within their dreams. The loose, soft forms also reflect the fluidity of the song that flows between each instrument. There is however too much going on in Miro's painting as compared to Dream 3. The song is monotonous and gradual in its progression. Miro's paintings offers a lot for the audience to see and may not be entirely appropriate for the context of the cover design.
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| Cathedra |
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| The Promise |
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| Vir Heroicus Sublimis |
Barnett Newman's paintings are similar to that of Mark Rothko, however the colour contrasts are more pronounced and definite in its changes. Newman's paintings also have an element of depth through the slight tonal variations shown in the block colours, for example in Cathedra. The choice of Newman as an inspiration is because of his painting style that could be used to represent the change in tone as the song progresses, for example the introduction of the cello.
Robert Motherwell's abstract forms could be an inspiration to be used to represent the ambiguous nature of human dreams and the tone of the song. The heavily contrasted colors and energetic shapes create a
unique tension reflective of the expressionist era that was unseen in other abstract
expressionist works. Unlike Rothko and Newman's vast blocks of colour that reflects the gradual progression of Dream 3, Motherwell's lively forms could represent the "frenetic world" as Richter suggests that the lullaby is trying to make the listener escape from.
Following on from abstract shapes, Jules Olitski's orb forms relate to the feeling of "being swallowed". The large coloured blocks represent the haunting piano melody that surrounds the "listener" as represented by the smaller circle. The colours compliment each other whilst producing a highly contrasting piece of art.
The significance of researching Motherwell, Olitski and Rothko is that it opens up the possibility for screenprinting and monoprinting. Obviously despite the simplicity of the paintings composition, there are definitely finer details within that are required to recreate the styles. Therefore in order to produce the same effect, a less digital approach would be more suitable to help capture the emotions and visual aesthetic displayed within these paintings.
In relation to Richter's point on of a "frenetic world", the overlapping and contrasting forms within Kandinsky's paintings and diagram are representative of that phrase. The straight, diagonal forms could be used to contrast against the more softer forms and subdued colours used in Olitski and Rothko. Overall Kandinsky's visual style relates to the ambiguity of Dream 3's melody.
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| Four Square |
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| Probst I |
Lastly is Franz Kline. His work is reminiscent to that of Motherwell although the forms presented here are much harsher and direct in brush strokes. The effect of these strokes reflect the action painter he was. In some ways the paintings resemble architecture with its order and relatively structured forms. Furthermore through his style, Kline attempted to create more 3 dimensional compositions unlike other abstract expressionists of the time who preferred 2 dimensional pictorial surface of the canvas. Kline achieves the visual effect of depth through energetic
juxtapositions of vertical and horizontal lines and their diagonal
overlapping. This can be considered for the album cover to help create the depth of dreaming.
From researching the works of these abstract expressionist painters, the key elements that can be included within the cover design are, Rothko and Newman's colour composition, Miro's loose forms, Motherwell and Kandinsky's energetic forms representing our frantic lifestyle and lastly, Olitski's display of being swallowed by the music.
This analysis forms 3 main ideas
Idea #1
To create a cover that uses the colour palette that of Mark Rothko combined with the style of Newman to show the progression of the song.
Idea #2
To create these energetic and frantic forms like that of Motherwell and Kadinsky that represent todays hectic life against the backdrop of the Rothko colours.
Idea #3
Based on Olitski, create a design that represents the music taking over the listener by "swallowing" the form which could be represented by a simple or frantic shape.
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