1.7

Senior Years Activity

Interpretive Framework: Formal Analysis

Jackson POLLOCK - Untitled (Green Silver) c.1949

Jackson POLLOCK
American 1912–56
Untitled (Green Silver) c. 1949
enamel and aluminium paint on paper, mounted on canvas
57.8 x 78.1 cm
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Gift, Sylvia and Joseph Slifka
© Jackson Pollock/ARS, New York. Licensed by VISCOPY Australia
2004.63


 

For

Senior Years Students

Curriculum

VCE Art

Think About
Meanings and Messages Expressed Through Formal Elements

Consider the following writer who explores how the formal elements contribute to their interpretation of the meaning of Jackson Pollock's work.

Susan Yung has written in Rebel with a Brush:

"Untitled (Green, Silver) is completely covered with enamel and aluminium paint, a pulsating tangle of pigment. Each vestige of paint has its own characteristics, particularly in relation to the others. A universe of life teems within, and yet it is brilliantly devoid of human pathos"

Historical context:
Social and political contexts of Cold War America 1940s and 1950s
During the Cold War, Abstract Expressionism was seen by some as emblematic of America's modernity, its openness to new ideas and to artistic and political freedoms of expression. This was in stark comparison to the closed and regimented nature of many communist block countries which did not allow free speech.

"In 1945, the United States emerged intact and unbombed from a devastating world war that had left its allies traumatized and its enemies prostrate. We (the United States) were a country, according to Dean Acheson, still at an adolescent stage of emotional development, yet burdened with vast adult responsibilities of global reconstruction and leadership. Compared to Soviet Russia's overwhelming armed might on the ground, America possessed a terrifying counterweighted super weapon, the atomic bomb."
Max Kozloff: American Painting during the Cold War Artforum May 1973

Aim

Understanding and applying interpretive frameworks.

Preparation

To do this activity you will need to:

Individual Task

Comment on the arrangement of colour and the idea of rhythm throughout the composition.

Do you think that Pollock's Untitled (Green Silver) is orderly or disorderly or both? Give reasons for your answer.

Place tracing paper over a reproduction of this work and separately identify these formal elements and design principles:

  • Line: how many different types of line can you see?
  • Texture: is it rough, smooth, matte or glossy?
  • Colour: how many separate colours can you locate?
  • Movement: how does your eye move through the composition?
  • The depiction of space: is it shallow or deep space?
  • Composition: how does it hold together as one image?

Research Questions

Research America's role in Europe and the Pacific during World War II. What in particular were America's vast adult responsibilities for global reconstruction and leadership after the war?

Group Discussion

What was the Cold War?

List the countries which, in the 1950s, were identified as communist blocks.

How do you imagine the Cold War impacted upon people's lives?

Imagine you are an artist. How might you respond to this environment?