THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE
By Leah Binkovitz
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| Interior of the chapel in Houston, Texas |
TEXAS---
The Sign: Eighteen inches. That's the distance from which one should view a Rothko painting, according to Mark Rothko. One might have to get closer to read the signs outside the Rothko Chapel though. The placards placed around the tan brick structure are minimal, not much more than museum labels. If the chapel were in a museum, say the Menil Collection next door, it would take little to adapt the muted signage:
Rothko Chapel. 1971. Mark Rothko, Philip Johnson, Howard Barnstone and Eugene Aubry. Commissioned by Dominique and John de Menil. As they are today, the signs offer some fairly vague guidance for visitors who might be unsure how to proceed: stand-squint-sigh or count rosary beads. "All are welcome," one reads. Another, "Guests are invited to experience the silence."[
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| Sign Language: 'Invited to experience the silence' |