Jackson Pollock’s Lavander Mist Essay Example for Free

Jackson Pollock’s Lavander Mist Essay All modes of inquiry correlate with each other due to their tendency to coalesce in their emphasis on issues regarding autonomy, justice, and politics. The differences of art theories, for example, merely spring from their construal of the relationship between the exercise of power and the text. However, differences in discursive procedures do not overshadow the fact that these theories give emphasis on their analysis of the political and institutional structures within society. A concrete example of this can be seen in the opposing theories of constructivism and essentialism. Adhering to competing narratives of oppression and resistance, both theories show interest on the subject’s position within society and how this position can affect the development of his identity. In fact, if one isolates the discussion of identity and narratives of oppression in both discourses, one will notice that the ultimate commitment of the theories they adhere to gives emphasis on the idea of the political life. Politics within these discourses is seen as a collective action of resistance, which aims for change in the hopes of attending to the problems evident in the formation of identity and agency (Arendt 13). In lieu of this, the paper’s task is two fold. Art as a repository of human experience has always been influenced by politics. Exercise of power within society is associated with and dependent on the mass production of certain kinds of art forms, which allows the cultural qualification of ideas. The relation between art and politics can also be seen in art theory’s assessment of the formation of consciousness and unconsciousness, which is related to the maintenance, and transformation of the predominant modes of power made possible by the output of artistic texts (Eagleton 210). It is also dependent upon the ahistorical positioning of the art form, since this allows the continuous creation of meaning for a particular text. This mode of relationship invokes the aesthetic character of art. Specific works of art that portray the above mentioned correlation between the aesthetic and political aspect of artworks are Nam June Paik’s T. V. Buddha and Jackson Pollock’s Lavander Mist. Both belonging to the postmodern genre, Paik and Pollock’s work exemplify art objects arranged, portrayed, or created in unconventional forms. Paik’s T. V, Buddha, for example, portrays an antique Buddha statue watching his videotaped image on the screen. Pollock’s Lavender Mist, on the other hand, portrays a drip painting with a lavender effect produced using aluminum and salmon colored paint. Pollock’s Lavander Mist, contains long black and white strokes that imply an inherent linear structure, the composition of which exhibits a density characterized by discernible central lines. Within the above stated genre in which both works are subsumed, the artistic enfranchisement of such objects are highly dependent upon the conceptual as well as the ideological meaning associated by the artist to the work. This thereby shows the manner in which art as a form of discourse enables the perception of aesthetics as a process of communicating while remaking a work. The aesthetic act becomes the incarnation of meaning rather than a demonstration of truth. Pollock’s Lavander Mist may be originally perceived as a product caused by the accidental â€Å"dripping† of paint. At the same time Paik’s T. V. Buddha, on the other hand may be seen as an accidental arrangement of the objects presented within his video piece. The incorporation of both works within the artistic genre may be seen as caused by the implicit inclusion of the artist’s idea in understanding the work. Examples of the inclusion of intentionality is explicitly apparent in Paik’s T. V. Buddha as he states that the work is to be understood as an explicit encounter between an Eastern deity and the Western media. Pollock’s Lavander Mist, on the other hand portrays the intentionality of the artist within the artwork itself as Pollock incorporates his handprints within the above stated painting while at the same arguing that the uniformity of the work is apparent in his intentional creation of crisscrossing lines that created the drips within the Lavender Mist. Following the same line of thought, it is through this method that artworks like the Fountain of Marcel Duchamp became incorporated in the artworld. In a sense, such works mirror what Arthur Danto refers to as the theoretical dependence of art works (145). As I reckon, Pollock and Paik’s works portrays the communicative character of artworks. However, this character transcends the original communicative aspect of art since such works necessitates the implicit ideological and conceptual framework presented by the artist in order to understand the work of art. Works Cited Arendt, Hannah. Between Past and Future. New York: Viking Press, 1968. Danto, Arthur. â€Å"The Artistic Enfranchisement of Real Objects: The Artworld. † Contextualizing Aesthetics: From Plato to Lyotard. Eds. Alex Neill and Aaron Ridley. Canada: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1999. Eagleton, Terry. Criticism and Ideology. London: Thetford Press, 1978 Paik, Nam June. T. V. Buddha. National Gallery of Australia. Pollock, Jackson. Number 1 (Lavender Mist). Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund.