In this article, Allan Kaprow attempts to assert that, and describe how, Jackson Pollock revolutionized art-making. He said that Pollock destroyed painting by turning it into a ritual; dehumanizing and liberating it. At the same time, Pollock stayed true to a few painting traditions, such as the idea of quality of marks.

The article states that in order to truly appreciate Pollock’s paintings we are forced to identify and identify with the hands that made the work, while also recognizing and valuing the marks themselves. He states that one of the truly revolutionary things about Pollock’s paintings is the fact that the forms go on forever; there is no beginning, middle and end. One intriguing thing that the author wrote was the fact that we accept this conundrum created by Pollock because he “knew how to do it” and later describes how Pollock had an innate sense of what was quality when he was creating a piece.

Most importantly, Kaprow says that Pollock left mankind in a place where art MUST expand to include the entire world, so that everything and anything becomes art. And of course, history shows that Kaprow was right. Today, anything can be art (much to the dismay and frustration of my father. . . ). The art world today includes everyone and everything – to various degrees.

I think the first time I read this article I was not excited to write about it since, well, I already knew about that. I grew up in an era where everything is art, where concept is everything, where the revelations discussed in the Kaprow article are common facts in an art history class. But I also think that it is interesting to really understand from a first hand witness what it was like to live in a time where that was not the case and these ideas where fresh and mind-shattering. I get such a sense of wonder and excitement from the end of the article, and I actually find it really inspiring!