Jackson Pollock: A True Dionysian

I will admit that initially, I thought Pollock’s art was not anything spectacular. Now I think some of them are actually enjoyable, but I still prefer less cluttered ones. A number of things contributed to this change of opinion. One of them was seeing other works Pollock did before he came up with his drip method, because these works show that he did think about what he was putting on canvas, and did have a background in art. If Paul from Faking It! had stumbled upon this same method of art and utilized it, I do not think the paintings would have the same level of validation. Also, viewing Who the #$&& is Jackson Pollock? made me realize that his works are actually similar and not random blobs of paint. Personally, I think that Teri’s painting is a real Pollock, but is one that he threw out or gave away because he was not happy with the final result. There is no way that he could have become such an amazing artist, and so perfect with this new technique, without going through multiple bad drafts. For the art critics to claim that every Pollock is known is complete rubbish.

I would actually say that Pollock’s art fits very well with Nietzsche’s concept of the Dionysian, whereby the conservative Apollonian gives way to impulse and chaos, creating true art that is in tune with something greater than humanity. Nietzsche saw this is a letting go of the self, and letting the art dominate the artist. From what we saw of Pollock’s work environment, he certainly let it take over his life. He was an alcoholic but a visionary, and he needed an outlet to express his overwhelming emotions: that outlet became his canvas. While some order is present in his work, the sense of controlled chaos strikes a balance between the Apollonian and Dionysian that I think is essential in making art transcend both worlds. If a piece is created entirely with Dionysian concerns, it could never be appreciated by the controlled individual ascribing to Apollonian art theories. Pollock easily flitted between these two systems, bringing a Dionysian work to the Apollonian world.