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September 04, 2005
Abstract Expressionism As A Key To Understanding Human Relationships
A vast majority of those who enter art school come with a dismissive attitude to what is considered 'modern art'. We view Pollock, de Kooning, Rothko and Newman as cop-outs; the men who couldn't accurately render reality and therefore escaped under the protective elitiest mantle of 'Abstract Expressionism'. But something bizarre takes place, something exotic, in our first art history class where we start to understand the tangled roots that lie at the heart of the movement. We start to see the tension between the established, hard-to-please teacher of Thomas Hart Benton and his student, Pollock, desperately seeking affirmation for his work.
As a class we begin to understand that not all ideas, concepts and emotions can be expressed by simply recording what we observe around us; our minds are enthralled by the haphazard paintings and unorthodox compositions that explicate the complexities we have trouble putting to words. As Pollock so perfectly said, "I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them."
After much internal conflict we pick up our etching plates, cover them in tar and begin to render not the small of a woman's back but what confusion looks like, how terror can be told with a line and what love means after translation to two-dimensions. Hours are spent waiting for the acid to give permanence to our experiments and we look dejected on our first tired attempts. We start to realize that to draw something we have never seen is certainly not easy.
Months are dedicated to the task and we choose the late night hours to populate the studios, free to play our music as loud as we want and clear of prying eyes who we just know will ridicule our work. And finally, finally we get something magical, something that explicates through gummy printmakers ink on deckled-edged paper the energy we had bottled up for so long. Before us sits a record of our toil and we smile with relief that such a nebulous goal has been accomplished.
We begin to non-chalantly show our treasured piece to those around us, smiling when our fellow art students recognize its balanced form and energetic lines but secretly crave the affirmation of our uninitiated peers, the ones who rely on instinct to judge a composition. Though it should come as no surprise we are quietly shocked when they dismiss it as another experiment; a minor detour from true desire to accurately render light falling on a bowl of fruit. They don't understand that we didn't choose to create this way, we have to.
Questions arise: do we want to be unconditionally accepted as an artist or do we want our work to be that which is ultimately loved? Unmitigated confirmation in our intentions or critical validity of our creations? Should we have to convince our audience of the integrity of the work or wait for a viewer who appreciates it without coersion?
Certainly one can find parallels elsewhere, no?
I find these queries are best dealt with while standing behind the twin spinning-steel-chakras and letting their repetitive energy answer all that is left unknown. Speaking of which check out my new toys...
See Pollock paint here and learn more about him and the whole New York School at this stop on the interweb.
Posted by Jon at September 4, 2005 06:09 PM