[Script Info]
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[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.88,0:00:13.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you visit a museum with a collection\Nof modern and contemporary art,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.28,0:00:16.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you're likely to see works that sometimes\Nelicit the response,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.86,0:00:21.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"My cat could make that,\Nso how is it art?"
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.14,0:00:25.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A movement called Abstract Expressionism,\Nalso known as the New York School,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.71,0:00:29.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gets this reaction particularly often.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.22,0:00:32.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Abstract Expressionism started in 1943
Dialogue: 0,0:00:32.37,0:00:35.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and developed after the end of\NWorld War II.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.20,0:00:39.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's characterized by large,\Nprimarily abstract paintings,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:39.46,0:00:42.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all-over compositions \Nwithout clear focal points,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.96,0:00:48.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and sweeping swaths of paint\Nembodying and eliciting emotions.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.92,0:00:52.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The group of artists who are considered\NAbstract Expressionists
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.14,0:00:55.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,includes Barnett Newman \Nwith his existential zips,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.65,0:00:59.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Willem de Kooning, famous \Nfor his travestied women,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.38,0:01:02.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Helen Frankenthaler, \Nwho created soak-stains,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.69,0:01:04.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and others.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.05,0:01:07.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But perhaps the most famous, influential,\Nand head-scratching one
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.98,0:01:09.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was Jackson Pollock.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.100,0:01:12.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Most of his paintings \Nare immediately recognizable.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.71,0:01:15.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They feature tangled messes\Nof lines of paint
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.76,0:01:19.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,bouncing around in every direction\Non the canvas.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.25,0:01:22.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And sure, these fields of chaos are big\Nand impressive,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.81,0:01:24.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but what's so great about them?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.97,0:01:27.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Didn't he just drip the paint at random?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.58,0:01:29.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Can't anyone do that?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.35,0:01:33.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, the answer to these questions\Nis both yes and no.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.28,0:01:37.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While Pollock implemented a technique\Nanyone is technically capable of
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.78,0:01:39.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,regardless of artistic training,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.45,0:01:42.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,only he could have made his paintings.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.32,0:01:45.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This paradox relates to his work's roots
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.02,0:01:50.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the Surrealist automatic drawings\Nof André Masson and others.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.34,0:01:54.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These Surrealists supposedly drew\Ndirectly from the unconscious
Dialogue: 0,0:01:54.13,0:01:57.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to reveal truths hidden \Nwithin their minds.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.45,0:02:01.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Occasionally, instead of picturing \Nsomething and then drawing it,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.73,0:02:04.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they let their hands move automatically
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.05,0:02:09.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and would later tease out familiar figures\Nthat appeared in the scribbles.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.27,0:02:11.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And after Pollock moved away \Nfrom representation,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.97,0:02:16.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he made drip, or action, paintings\Nfollowing a similar premise,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.73,0:02:19.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,though he developed a signature technique
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.49,0:02:24.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and never looked for images or messages\Nhidden in the works.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.04,0:02:28.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,First, he took the canvas off of the easel\Nand laid it on the floor,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.06,0:02:30.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a subversive act in itself.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.48,0:02:34.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Then, in a controlled dance, he stepped\Nall around the canvas,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.73,0:02:39.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dripping industrial paint onto it\Nfrom stirrers and other tools,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.68,0:02:41.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,changing speed and direction
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.49,0:02:45.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to control how the paint \Nmade contact with the surface.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:45.86,0:02:48.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These movements, \Nlike the Surrealist scribbles,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.40,0:02:51.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were supposedly born \Nout of Pollock's subconscious.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.91,0:02:53.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But unlike the Surrealists,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.93,0:02:57.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whose pictures represented \Nthe mind's hidden contents,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.10,0:03:01.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pollock's supposedly made physical\Nmanifestations of his psyche.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.80,0:03:05.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,His paintings are themselves\Nsignatures of his mind.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.72,0:03:09.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In theory, anyone could make a painting\Nthat is an imprint of their mind.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.98,0:03:11.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So why is Pollock so special?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.100,0:03:16.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, it's important to remember that\Nwhile anyone could have done what he did,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:16.54,0:03:21.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he and the rest of the New York School\Nwere the ones who actually did it.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.24,0:03:25.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They destroyed conventions of painting\Nthat had stood for centuries,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.04,0:03:28.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,forcing the art world to rethink\Nthem entirely.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.41,0:03:32.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But one last reason why Jackson Pollock's\Nwork has stayed prominent
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.89,0:03:38.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stems from the specific objects he made,\Nwhich embody fascinating contradictions.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.37,0:03:41.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For instance, while Pollock's process
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.09,0:03:44.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,resulted in radically flat \Npainted surfaces,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.48,0:03:50.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the web of painted lines can create\Nthe illusion of an infinite layered depth
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.63,0:03:52.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when examined up close.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.94,0:03:57.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the chaos of this tangled mess seems\Nto defy all control,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.10,0:03:59.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it's actually the product\Nof a deliberate,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.48,0:04:02.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,though not pre-planned, process.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.21,0:04:06.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These characteristics made Pollock\Ninto a celebrity,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.30,0:04:07.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and within art history,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.65,0:04:10.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they also elevated him \Nto the mythified status
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.42,0:04:13.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the genius artist as hero.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.45,0:04:17.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So rather than evening the playing field\Nfor all creative minds,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.21,0:04:23.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,his work unfortunately reinforced\Na long-standing elitist aspect of art.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.58,0:04:24.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Elitist,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.30,0:04:25.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,innovative,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.07,0:04:26.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whatever you choose to call it,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.55,0:04:28.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the history embedded \Nin Abstract Expressionism
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.98,0:04:32.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is one that no cat, however talented,\Ncan claim.