“New needs need new techniques. And the modern artists have found new ways and new means of making their statements…the modern painter cannot express this age, the airplane, the atom bomb, the radio, in the old forms of the Renaissance or of any other past culture.”
– Jackson Pollock
As a means of personal and cultural expression, art is very useful – not only as a medium for capturing the period in which it was made, but within a need for, and inherent revitalisation of the ongoing quest to capture new styles, methods of composition and form. In many ways, art is a lens – it often provides us with a crucial snapshot and representation of the climate of the society in which we inhabit. But it is also a dynamic force, constantly in flux, as our perceptions and attitudes shift. In the context of war and conflict, art is a powerful means not only of expression, but of provocation and catharsis (for both artist and viewer).
The idea of art’s significance and continual evolution is one that seemed to fit hand-in-hand with a particular focus question from week 2 – “How have our methods of telling stories of conflict changed over time?”. The Jackson Pollock quote featured above speaks to this in the context of the art world – highlighting the need for new modes of representation distinct from the previous artistic movements, brought about by the horrors of WW1 and 2. Modernist art in itself exemplifies a dramatic shift in style, necessitated by the forms of the past no longer being able to represent the dramatic societal upheaval and vastly changing social climate. As an abstract expressionist, Pollock used a new, non-figurative method of artistic expression that could convey the sheer emotion and societal turmoil that bitter conflict had impressed upon society. His work is significant in the way it not only acts as a cathartic outlet for his own expression, but is open in its subjectivity (in the way it does not impress or impose meanings on the viewer) in order to allow the viewers to feel a cathartic and emotionally changed experience that is wholly reliant on subjective perception and interpretation. In this way, Pollock paints a new method of story-telling that captures the height of internal and external war and conflict through action-painting – one that had not been seen before.
Another example of a shift in storytelling was the guest lecture from Marcus Winter (Aka. The Sandman). The presentation was immensely evocative and poignant in effect and challenged my notions about the portrayal of warfare in our history – not knowing that such violence could be depicted through performance with such beauty. Briefly looking around the lecture theatre, I could see everyone transfixed by the raw sensitivity and power that the shaping of the sand on the light-box held, during the depiction of the Battle at Gate Pā. I too, was captivated. In my past art history studies, we were reminded that how we might imagine art (often very static, historically realistic in subject and design) is only one facet of an incredibly complex, constantly evolving world. I used to think that all art, or at least most, lacked dynamism and movement. But performance art, such as Marcus Winter’s spell-binding sand art, demonstrates equally the potential for new modes of artistic expression in the same fashion as abstract expressionism – symbolic of our constantly evolving methods of representing and perceiving artwork, and by extension the warfare and conflicts with which it may be concerned.
Art is a powerful, visceral mode of storytelling and I believe that as the means of artistic representation shifts, so too does the viewer’s appreciation for the emotion and chaos encapsulated within the art world. Marcus Winter’s work left me feeling as though some secrets had been revealed to me – there was catharsis in the representation of the traumas of the past, suddenly washed away by such a graceful, transient medium. Similarly, the subjectivity of Pollock’s abstract expressionism marked a shift in artistic style that differed from the realistic modes of the past. In both, key moments of war and both internal and external conflict in our history were depicted and reimagined, capturing our imaginations and creating art that is both new in practice and highly profound.
That Pollock quote is powerful and really resonates with me. It is vital to find new ways to tell stories, and I think Marcus Winter is a perfect example of this. For a long time, the west told predominantly white, male stories – but this is starting to change. As you mention, one of the most powerful, and subjective, ways to tell new stories is through art.