In+ART+MISTAKES+MAKE+THE+BIG+BREAKS

The story of Jackson Pollack is the perfect example of why creativity thrives on imperfection. The magic of creativity is problem solving at a new level. The problems and opportunities become indistinguishable. Ideas are ideas and events are the catalyst. The negative connotation of messy, outside of the lines and errors can be the barrier to progress in the arts. In this combined video of a film about Jackson Pollack with actual footage of Jackson Pollack we see how ideas that did recognize an event as a spill inspired a revolution in painting techniques and styles that not only brought overnight success to Jackson Pollack, but also permanently changed the history and direction of art.

One note: if you want to show this to P-5 students, an explanation about the lack of knowledge about the risks of smoking in the time period of Jackson Pollack's life might be worth discussing. Also, any material obtained to tell the story of Jackson Pollacks life should be very carefully scrutinized and screened. His death was an alcohol induced automobile accident. By all available accounts of survivors and witnesses it was an intentional murder suicide. One of the challenges in teaching art history is that so many of the artists who made contributions to the history of art lead sordid lives with tragic and untimely deaths.

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