The silences of the canal
We are in a summer afternoon, the heat is oppressive. In this small corner of Venice, abandoned by everyone, silence has become the master.
Here, it has taken possession of the things, lighting the buildings, the water, the boats, even the reflections on the water, in the same orange brightness!
It is a voluptuous, intense and extreme orange, that seems to surround everything with the same feeling, with the same mystery, this silence is almost palpable.
First thing the silence of the prayers, rendered by this mighty orange on the church in the background, as if the intensity of the color could show the intensity of the silence that envelops the building with its strength, and behind, a sky of an indefinable color, towards which the prayers seem to go, slowly and light.
I think that the observation point from below highlights the monumentality of the
buildings, rendering their verticality even more present.
But in this dark building we also feel the silence of desires and regrets, where the cries of joy or love that once echoed are gone. Only the balcony is still lit by a ray of sunshine, small and indiscreet, that makes us feel the joy that once reigned here.
Then there is the silence of waiting, with some boats abandoned on the canal; here, the canal makes no noise, there is no current. Some of these boats have a spectral and diaphanous appearance, they are also filled by the absence of noise and they are beginning to lose some of their color, their double alignment highlights the contrast between colors, an orange color that tries to resist but that slowly begins to fade.
And again I see the silence of absence, rendered by the colder blue of the building on the right.
This almost metallic blue gives me the impression of a more painful absence: the building itself is sad because of the absence of its owner.
Even in this case, silence has won and gradually the colors are disappearing and they are detached from the rest of the work.
It is the silence of a lost and fragile time, that has been, but it is not anymore, the color becomes almost pale and the lines are mixed, almost canceled: the architecture itself is not clear anymore as if the power of silence has dissolved the contours.
The various forms of expression of light, the colored shadows, the play of colors, give this impression of mystery, of enigma.
We really feel like we are totally immersed in a silent world, where everything is soundless, where the breath of the wind becomes light and we no longer feel it.
But despite its silence and its stillness, I think your little corner of Venice is very alive because it is inhabited and full of memories and emotions!
Mathilde Blanc
Albi, Francia