[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.11,0:00:02.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(jazz music)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.46,0:00:08.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Steven] We're in the\NMetropolitan Museum of Art,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.20,0:00:11.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,looking at an enormous\Npainting by Jackson Pollock.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.28,0:00:15.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is 17 feet wide and he\Noriginally titled it "Number 30"
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.83,0:00:17.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but then later "Autumn Rhythm."
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.75,0:00:19.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the museum is creating a compromise
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.98,0:00:22.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they're calling it\N"Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)".
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.55,0:00:24.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Beth] This is a complicated painting.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.59,0:00:26.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And for some reason to me today
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.63,0:00:28.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the midst of the pandemic,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.26,0:00:31.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,less than two weeks before\Na presidential election,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.15,0:00:35.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I feel like I might be projecting\Nsome of my own darkness
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.65,0:00:39.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into this painting that I\Nknow is painted in 1950,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.35,0:00:42.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just five years after\Nthe end of World War II.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.48,0:00:43.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Steven] A lot of the discussion
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.96,0:00:46.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the abstract expressionists
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.02,0:00:48.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of which Pollock was one\Nof the leading figures
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.30,0:00:51.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,deals with the issue of\Nan angst and anxiety.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.18,0:00:54.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These were issues that were\Ndominant in the post-war moment.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.72,0:00:57.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,1950 was the Cold War.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.20,0:00:59.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The atomic bombs were threatening
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.12,0:01:01.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a way that had never happened\Nbefore in human history.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.91,0:01:03.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The enormity of the Holocaust
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.83,0:01:06.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had been revealed only\Na few years earlier.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:06.41,0:01:08.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Beth] And there were\Nthe trials of Nazis
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.46,0:01:10.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that went on for years\Nafter the end of the war.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.97,0:01:13.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I can imagine there\Nwas a sense for artists
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.38,0:01:17.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that a new language was needed to express
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.07,0:01:19.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this post World War II era
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.13,0:01:22.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that the old systems of naturalism
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.00,0:01:23.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,coming out of the Renaissance
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.47,0:01:25.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was not a language that was viable
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.44,0:01:27.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,given the new circumstances.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.31,0:01:28.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Steven] I think a number of artists
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.44,0:01:31.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,didn't feel that\Nnaturalism, that figuration,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.21,0:01:34.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the representation of the\Nhuman body was going to cut it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.01,0:01:36.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They were looking for something\Nthat was more profound,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.59,0:01:39.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was able to grapple\Nwith existential issues,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.55,0:01:42.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,issues of human existence and\Nthe potential extinguishing
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.88,0:01:44.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of human existence.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.07,0:01:46.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Beth] If you think about\Nthe decade or two before this,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.91,0:01:50.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we have surrealism and this\Ninterest in the unconscious
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.76,0:01:54.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and delving beyond the\Nconscious everyday mind
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.47,0:01:57.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and looking for a greater, deeper truth
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.58,0:02:01.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about human existence, about\Nthe way our minds work.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.15,0:02:02.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Steven] Well, there was this idea
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.46,0:02:03.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that goes back to the surrealist.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.82,0:02:05.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It goes back even to Dada,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.20,0:02:08.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the conscious rational\Nmind got in the way,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.04,0:02:11.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that it was antithetical\Nto the creative impulse,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.08,0:02:13.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that if we could somehow\Nstep out of the way
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.91,0:02:16.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and allow something more elemental,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.02,0:02:18.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more unintentional to come to the fore,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.53,0:02:22.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that would somehow be more\Ntruthful and more universal.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:22.17,0:02:25.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What we're seeing is a\Nhigh point in modern art,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.06,0:02:27.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where artists were stepping\Naway from the representation
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.95,0:02:28.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of nature,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.78,0:02:31.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something that had been\Ncentral to the making of art,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.15,0:02:34.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this interest in something that\Nwas not abstract in nature,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.32,0:02:35.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it was purely abstract.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.97,0:02:38.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's radicality can't be overstated.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.40,0:02:42.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This was completely upending\Nthe traditions of image-making.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.07,0:02:44.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's turning away from the\Nrepresentation of nature
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.88,0:02:48.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and looking into himself,\Nhis own physical movements,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.75,0:02:53.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his own emotional state at\Nthis specific moment in time.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.51,0:02:54.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Beth] So we're not looking at,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:54.99,0:02:58.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for example, analytic cubism,\Nwhich is an abstraction
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.51,0:03:01.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from nature where Picasso takes a guitar
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.35,0:03:05.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and disassembles it into geometric forms,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.04,0:03:07.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but here, he's not starting from nature,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.24,0:03:09.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but starting from the\Nplace of an individual
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.64,0:03:11.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a moment in time.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.69,0:03:13.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Steven] And in a particular place,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.31,0:03:15.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this was made in his studio, a small barn
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.81,0:03:17.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the back of the\Nhouse at Jackson Pollock
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.64,0:03:19.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Lee Krasner's property
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.99,0:03:21.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,out in the Springs in East Hampton.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.71,0:03:23.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a relatively small space.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.69,0:03:27.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is an enormous canvas,\Nhe unrolled it on the floor.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.01,0:03:29.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He didn't prime it, he didn't add gesso.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.35,0:03:30.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He didn't seal the surface.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.84,0:03:33.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He painted directly on the raw canvas,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.75,0:03:35.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but I can't say even that he painted it,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.81,0:03:38.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he didn't touch the canvas with his brush.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.16,0:03:42.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He moved over the canvas\Nand let paint fall on it.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.37,0:03:44.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Beth] So there is a kind of rawness.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.82,0:03:46.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For centuries, whenever an artist painted,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.66,0:03:48.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not only did they prime the canvas,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.55,0:03:51.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they most often prepared drawings,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.32,0:03:53.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,organize the composition,\Nthought it through.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.84,0:03:56.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was a real intentionality\Nand consciousness.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.78,0:03:59.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That was an important part of\Nthe value of a work of art.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.97,0:04:02.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Steven] And here he's\Nflipping that value on its head.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.83,0:04:05.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pollock used house paint,\Nthat black is an enamel.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.74,0:04:09.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a break with the refinements\Nof fine art materials,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.58,0:04:12.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,bringing art into the real world.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.02,0:04:14.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And that's a reminder\Nthat Pollock had been,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.24,0:04:16.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,especially earlier in his career,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.31,0:04:18.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,interested in social issues.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.03,0:04:20.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is an enormous canvas\Nthat might remind us
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.40,0:04:22.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of large scale mural paintings.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.34,0:04:23.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Beth] So he's looking back
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.48,0:04:25.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the great Mexican muralists
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.39,0:04:28.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like Siqueiros and Diego Rivera,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.10,0:04:31.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and thinking about the\Nenormous scale of those murals
Dialogue: 0,0:04:31.92,0:04:35.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in art, that was not a\Nsmall paintings for a collector,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.93,0:04:38.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but large paintings for the masses.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.15,0:04:39.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Steven] What Pollock is after here
Dialogue: 0,0:04:39.52,0:04:42.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is a kind of spontaneity,\Nit's an immediate invention.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.54,0:04:45.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's drawing on his tremendous skill,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.60,0:04:48.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but he's then letting loose,\Nand probably the best analogy
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.70,0:04:51.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is to a highly accomplished jazz musician.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.65,0:04:54.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Somebody who can play the\Nsaxophone or the piano
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.37,0:04:55.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with extraordinary skill,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.88,0:04:57.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but then allows themselves to riff,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.78,0:05:01.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,allows themselves to play\Nand allows the unconscious
Dialogue: 0,0:05:01.02,0:05:03.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the moment to come to the fore.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.04,0:05:05.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Beth] And the emotion of the moment
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.76,0:05:08.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,becomes the guiding principles.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.14,0:05:09.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Steven] And I want\Nto go back to a point
Dialogue: 0,0:05:09.29,0:05:10.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you made a moment before
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.74,0:05:12.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he's not painting on unprimed canvas,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.86,0:05:14.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,simply to break with tradition.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.84,0:05:19.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He wants the paint to seep in\Nand stay in the canvas itself,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:19.26,0:05:21.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not to ride on its surface always.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.51,0:05:25.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And so there was a specific\Nquality that was achievable
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.01,0:05:27.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because the paint was in direct contact
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.30,0:05:28.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the weave of the cloth.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.79,0:05:30.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Beth] And there's so many ways
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.29,0:05:32.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we experienced the paint here.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.53,0:05:35.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We see areas where it\Ndid seep into the fabric.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.73,0:05:38.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We see dots that look like splashes.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.23,0:05:41.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We see other dots that have\Na feeling of a night sky.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.38,0:05:45.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We see areas where the paint\Nhas pulled up and dried
Dialogue: 0,0:05:45.22,0:05:46.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and cracked.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:46.19,0:05:49.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We see areas where the paint\Nis soft and atmospheric,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.35,0:05:53.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,areas where it's sharp and\Nlinear, where it's matte,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.44,0:05:55.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,areas where it's shiny.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:55.22,0:05:58.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's so much to explore\Nwhen you got up close.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:58.54,0:06:00.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- [Steven] But then you can also pull back
Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.38,0:06:03.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you can see these\Nlong trails of paint.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:03.73,0:06:06.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And you can imagine the\Nartist moving around
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.52,0:06:09.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and rhythmically with\Nlarge arching motions,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.33,0:06:11.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,flinging that paint into the air
Dialogue: 0,0:06:11.08,0:06:13.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and allowing gravity to pull it down.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.33,0:06:16.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The surface of this painting\Nthen becomes of register
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.07,0:06:18.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of Pollock's movement through\Ntime and through space.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.80,0:06:20.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It becomes a kind of stage.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:20.42,0:06:22.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in one sense, it's a shame
Dialogue: 0,0:06:22.49,0:06:24.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the painting is\Nvertical hanging on the wall
Dialogue: 0,0:06:24.85,0:06:27.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it was made\Nhorizontally, he was over it.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.90,0:06:29.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And sometimes when I walk up to a Pollock,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:29.80,0:06:32.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'll look at it from the\Nside and tilt my head
Dialogue: 0,0:06:32.31,0:06:34.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so I can look across it the way he saw it,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.75,0:06:38.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more as an arena to act in\Nthan a canvas to look at it.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.26,0:06:40.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(jazz music)