Action Art
Should we be so precise and regimented in our way of working?
“Action art n. A style of abstract painting that uses techniques such as the dribbling or splashing of paint to achieve a spontaneous effect.”
Art critic, Harold Rosenberg coined the term ‘Action Art’ by shifting the emphasis from the object presented in the painting to the struggle to complete the painting itself.
Rosenberg in effect redefined the ‘meaning’ of art by saying that it was ‘an act rather than an object, a process rather than a product’. A brave statement. But as designers we are definitely interested in the PROCESS of creating pieces, so is the meaning the most important thing?
Action artists are so fresh and exciting- creating pieces of art through mistakes and chance. You can be so free and excitable when creating a piece of Action Art, so can we not take this way of thinking through to other areas of art and design? Can great designs come about due to accidents? I think it can. The only problem is that I think that we feel too constrained nowadays. This probably has something to do with the fact that we are being marked for what we produce at the moment and there will always be a reason for us to restrain ourselves from being THAT free with our work, but it doesn’t mean to say that we can’t take risks.
One thing I admire most about Action Art is the originality and novelty that it brings to art. The fact that you can use anything in order to create your work and through being able to use absolutely anything, it is almost impossible to predict what exact marks will be made on the canvas. For example, Yves Klein who used naked women covered in paint and being dragged around the canvas as his source of mark making. This is an exceptionally innovative way of making marks on a page and is a certain way to grab media attention.
Damien Hirst created ‘Spin paintings’ by placing his canvas on a spinning table and the paint being layered on whilst the table is spinning. I find it incredible how an artist can create such paintings by not even physically touching the canvas itself.
Should we be so precise and regimented in our way of working?
“Action art n. A style of abstract painting that uses techniques such as the dribbling or splashing of paint to achieve a spontaneous effect.”
Art critic, Harold Rosenberg coined the term ‘Action Art’ by shifting the emphasis from the object presented in the painting to the struggle to complete the painting itself.
Rosenberg in effect redefined the ‘meaning’ of art by saying that it was ‘an act rather than an object, a process rather than a product’. A brave statement. But as designers we are definitely interested in the PROCESS of creating pieces, so is the meaning the most important thing?
Action artists are so fresh and exciting- creating pieces of art through mistakes and chance. You can be so free and excitable when creating a piece of Action Art, so can we not take this way of thinking through to other areas of art and design? Can great designs come about due to accidents? I think it can. The only problem is that I think that we feel too constrained nowadays. This probably has something to do with the fact that we are being marked for what we produce at the moment and there will always be a reason for us to restrain ourselves from being THAT free with our work, but it doesn’t mean to say that we can’t take risks.
One thing I admire most about Action Art is the originality and novelty that it brings to art. The fact that you can use anything in order to create your work and through being able to use absolutely anything, it is almost impossible to predict what exact marks will be made on the canvas. For example, Yves Klein who used naked women covered in paint and being dragged around the canvas as his source of mark making. This is an exceptionally innovative way of making marks on a page and is a certain way to grab media attention.
Damien Hirst created ‘Spin paintings’ by placing his canvas on a spinning table and the paint being layered on whilst the table is spinning. I find it incredible how an artist can create such paintings by not even physically touching the canvas itself.
Jackson Pollock is probably the most famous artist to grace Action Art with his lively canvases being splashed with colour. He would literally take buckets of paint and throw them at the canvas yet so many of his paintings look like beautiful pieces of ‘organised mess’!
I just think that mistakes aren’t always bad and maybe we should sometimes allow ourselves to go a little bit crazy and take a few risks in our designs!
I just think that mistakes aren’t always bad and maybe we should sometimes allow ourselves to go a little bit crazy and take a few risks in our designs!
No comments:
Post a Comment