The Best Artists are Perfect Observers and Imitators (Essay Sample)

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The Best Artists are Perfect Observers and Imitators
As one goes through "The Legacy of Jackson Pollock”, one cannot help but notice a resemblance between the writer of his story and Pollock. In other words, the writer is an extension of the artist, he brings us closer to the artist and only in this way do we get to understand the work of Jackson Pollock. The author has observed Pollock’s work through the years and is presenting Pollock’s art in words. Pollock on the other hand has observed great artists and as Mark Van Doren would put it, has learnt to create his own world by years of imitation and by perfect imitation of the masters, he has surpassed the masters and learnt to produce masterpieces—they are only works of art because they can be compared to other great works of art. The author says, "We remembered van Gogh and Rimbaud." One could assume that these historical figures in artistry were the inspiration behind Jackson Pollock.[]
The author mentions Pollock to have been inspired by the Surrealist group of artists. By bringing to light the Surrealist impression, the author conveys that in observing other artists in the line at work—Jackson was able to develop his edge. Jackson is said to have risen at a time when "unconvincing clichés" were used by most artists. These were artists who expressed themselves by reading formal psychology and sexual books to come up with their content. Pollock, however, maintained and ‘automatic’ way of art. In his art, it is clear that he intended to create his own voice by first tearing down all the painting he knew, the author puts it that, " He created some magnificent paintings. But he also destroyed painting." I would put it that in creating magnificent art he acknowledged the arranged and systematic nature of painting while in destroying painting, he introduced a unique style in which to express himself—limitlessly.[] [1, 2, 3. Alan Kaprow. "The Legacy of Jackson Pollock”.]
The second account on the other hand is about an artist who wanted to understand and delve into the intricacies of raw and untainted creation. Giacometti was an artist as the author (Sartre) puts it that in one of his (Sartre’s) essays he expresses a deep need to "search for the origins, the felt need to begin again with the naked thing, rather than to work with the received conventions of cultural expression." Sartre was able to observe nature and was dissatisfied by the artificial impression brought about by years of cultural programming. Instead, he wanted to imitate nature in its purest form.[Allan Kaprow. ”Jean-Paul Sartre: The Search for the Absolute”]
In his essay on the works of Giacometti, Sartre represents to the world a complex, yet simple view of the human body. Giacometti as Sartre puts it, does not only dwell on the exterior of the human anatomy, there is always more to be discovered when one goes closer. He saw wonder in the naked human form: from the movement of the arms, the squinting of the eyes, the shape of the lips and the mere twisting of finger tips. Giacometti, I would say tried to bring life to statues. By noticing the minute details that make man unique—mostly by observing the "indissoluble unity and the absolute source" of most of his movements. It is obvious from Sartre’s essay that in order to create a perfect form out of stone Giacometti wanted to imitate nature’s creation as perfectly as he could in order to present a form as close to the marvel that is the human form as possible. It is possible that Giacometti’s disappointment came from not being able to perfectly represent everything he saw (and imagined) into a piece of rock.
In his effort to imitate the human form in its purest, Sartre puts it that, "In frontally opposing classism, Giacometti has restored the imaginary and indivisible space to statues. In accepting relativity he found the absolute." Although Giacometti is seen to be overwhelmed by infiniteness at first, he is able to represent the human form in stone—but it is not only a form since he has incorporated a particular absoluteness (human perfection) to his statues. An audience studying his work would maybe confess that Giacometti embraced he complexity of creation and was able to merge with it and represent it after years of confusion and uncertainty.[Allan Kaprow. Jean-Paul Sartre: The Search for the Absolute”]
For Giacometti, it is not really about the available space but the utilization of the space available. In Sartre’s description of Giacometti’s comment on his art, Giacometti is seen to observe that it could take an eternity to sculpt the nose without moving to any other part. This means that space ...