Blog 1

After seeing half of the film Pollock, I have come to the conclusion that the film is agreeable. The short cuts and disconnection of sequences confused me at first, but then I realized it added something very unique to the film. The short sequences really reflect the disconnection and oddness of the artist himself. So far, we have seen Pollock in many different lights. We see him quite and shy, angry, pensive, distant and lost. The cinematography in the film tends to match his emotions, which I find very creative. For example, many times when Pollock is zoning out or becoming distant the camera zooms in onto his face, getting the detail of his vacant expression. The scenes when he is like this also tend to be silent or quiet, reflecting the fact that he is separated from everyone else and he is in his own world. My favorite scene in the movie so far is when he begins working on the mural for Peggy Guggenheim. I actually found it to be quite beautiful. First, we see Pollock pacing around in front of the blank canvas. His shadow appears on the canvas as he walks back and forth. I saw this and immediately thought that it represented the fact he puts all of himself into his artwork. Then, when he finally gets inspired with an idea, he begins to paint. His brush strokes seem to flow with the music that plays in the background and it looks and feels almost like a graceful dance of some sort. You could really tell how much passion he was putting into the piece of work. I look forward to continuing watching the film. We left off where Pollock and Lee were starting a new life together, free from the madness of the city. It will be interesting to see if the new change is a permanent one.

After reading the Schematic Structure of the Artist’s Biography, I found several points of intersection between the life events and Pollock’s life so far. The movie does not focus on prebirth of birth, but begins when Pollock is in his youthful stage. We see signs of early promise in his work when scenes show his workroom filled with colorful and lively paintings. Peggy Guggenheim discovers him with the help of Lee Krasner. His abilities are recognized by her, and she commissions him to create a mural for her apartment. He begins to be noticed by the media. Critics write about him in the newspaper, even though the reviews are mediocre. The schematic structure in the youth category matches the order of events in the film perfectly. The film has not really touched on the maturity aspect of Pollock’s life yet, but I can guess the film will continue to follow this structure.

Reading the Plato selection was very interesting. Socrates often describes the artist or “rhapsode,” and the description does not entirely match up to Pollock’s image. “You always have to wear fine clothes, and to look as beautiful as you can is a part of your art.” Pollock is shown in many scenes as a drunk mess. He doesn’t dress up, and we even see him show up to a meeting with Peggy Guggenheim looking like a bum. Back then; this behavior would be unbecoming of an artist. Another part of the reading that interested me was when Ion states, “…I am persuaded that good poets by a divine inspiration interpret things of the Gods to us.” I thought about the things that inspired Pollock in his life like when we see him outside in the wilderness playing with animals and watching the sky. Immediately after this scene we see him begin to paint. He doesn’t paint the dog or the sky or the water he just watched a moment ago, but something abstract. It is something we would not recognize if we looked at it, but it is his interpretation of the world.