YouTube Clip of the Week: “Jackson Pollock (1912 - 1956)”
“I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them.” — Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock (1912 - 1956) was an artist people either love or hate. There aren’t many in between. He’s classified as an “abstrct expressionist” but is usually called “the guy who does all the big paintings full of squiggly lines.” Whether you love or hate his art, if you have any type of depression, there is a lot to be learned from Jackson Pollock — namely, the right way and the wrong way to go about handling your mental illness.
What He Did Right
Pollock did channel a lot of his emotions into the creative process. His paintings are huge, incredibly complex and present a unique view of the world. His paintings could also be illustrations of what it feels like to be depressed.
Art therapy is highly recommeded for anyone with any kind of depression. It doesn’t have to be painting — it could be cooking, or gardening or just about anything you choose. The requirements for this creaticve choice are that you have to move your muscles and show tangible results.
As this clip shows, Pollock would move his whole body in order to paint.
What He Did Wrong
Pollock lived at a time when most medications for mental illness were not developed. Often, treatment back then consisted of a combination of shock therapy and talk therapy. But still, that would have been preferable to what Pollock did do.
He chose to self-medicate with alcohol. Not suprisingly, he became an alcoholic. Although an artisitc genius, he had a miserable live that ended short when he became drunk and got behind the wheel of a car.
Don’t self-medicate.
February 22nd, 2009 at 1:11 pm
[...] Spirograph-like perfection of the European designs into cheap crap. Oh, well. It’s too bad Jackson Pollock died before the crop circle school of art started. Imagine what he could have done with a corn [...]
April 27th, 2009 at 3:22 am
I usually agree with your article content, but in this case I am sorry to say that I do not share your views.