MET-Jackson Pollock

Who has to say something is art to make it art? Who has to say a piece of art is good to make it good? I do not know if there is an finite answer to either one of these questions but I do know that when I think about the Jackson Pollock piece in the Abstract Expressionism exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art these where the first two questions that came to my mind. The fact that the Pollock piece was located directly in the middle of the room, and was the first thing one noticed upon entering the space, made it all the more impressive to me.

Before my trip to the MET a couple of weeks ago I had never actually seen a Jackson Pollock piece in person. I am actually a bit ashamed to say this but it is true. Despite having visited numerous museums during my 21 years and dozens of trips to the MET, I had just never been able to stand face-to-painting with a Jackson Pollock piece before. All of the pictures I had seen of his works in textbooks and literature before paled in comparison to the real thing.

Up close I could appreciate the texture of every little bump and slash of paint. I could imagine Jackson Pollock standing over the blank white canvas swooshing and dripping his paintbrush again and again to create something that had never before been created. Standing there, taking in everything that was in front of me, I could not help but draw a connection between Pollock as an artist who defied the conventional way of painting with the way in which men and women like Max Eastman, Jig Cook, Mabel Dodge and Margaret Sanger subscribed to an unconventional lifestyle living in Washington Square in the 19-teens and the 1920’s.

The same way Jackson Pollock challenged the traditional techniques used for painting, so too did Jig Cook when he and others assembled the Provincetown Players in an attempt to resist the conventions of theatre produced night after night on Broadway. The same way I questioned what makes art art and what makes good art good, those privy to the performances put on by the Provincetown Players also questioned whether or not what they were seeing was truly theatre and whether or not it was any good. But again, I find myself pondering the same types of questions: who decides whether something is artistic or good? Who decides if something is meaningful or not? The best I can do is decide for myself whether I like or dislike what is presented before me, and although I cannot comment on the productions of the Provincetown Players, I can say that I was undeniably moved by the Jackson Pollock piece displayed in the MET Abstract Expressionism exhibit.