So, I get why you think this way, with an Elite and greater culture that propagates the idea that both creating and appreciating abstract art is off-limits to Common Folk (and that neither can be Fun), but let’s take a minute to look at the art made by Jackson Pollock and Jenna Marbles!
(And don’t worry, this isn’t going to be “actually, Jenna’s is bad, you just didn’t know it” in the least.)
Let’s look at Jackson Pollock first.
This is the dude who invented drip art! Mind you, this is in 1947 (two years after the end of World War II) and there wasn’t anything like it in the modern art movement.
Obviously, it’s abstract—it doesn’t represent anything in particular—but he also didn’t try to form specific shapes. He was just making stuff based on how he felt. Which is not dissimilar to what Jenna’s doing!
Another big revolutionary part of what he did was put the canvas material on the floor and use tools like sticks or glass or super stiff brushes or whatever he felt like. People had been pretty strictly using brushes on a vertical canvas before this (barring the floor-based creations of the Native American Sand Painters, who Jackson had compared his work to).
Some people—art critics sipping overpriced wine ; )—weren’t into it, were bothered by the seeming randomness and lack of meaning, others saw it as a revelation.
Which is a good thing, because this “action painting” style likely inspired the other free, similarly less Careful-style art forms like the acrylic pouring and string pull painting we see in Jenna’s videos!
It’s ironic that you talk about the possibility of Jackson making “bad art because it ‘challenges what art is’” because he specifically wasn’t trying to trigger a particular Deep interpretation of his art, and he wasn’t particularly concerned with if people liked it. He didn’t think it was too serious.
“It came into existence because I had to paint it. Any attempt on my part to say something about it, to attempt explanation of the inexplicable, could only destroy it.”
JP: I think they should not look for, but look passively – and try to receive what the painting has to offer and not bring a subject matter or preconceived idea of what they are to be looking for.
Interviewer: Then deliberately looking for any known meaning or object in an abstract painting would distract you immediately from ever appreciating it as you should?
JP: I think it should be enjoyed just as music is enjoyed – after a while you may like it or you may not. But – it doesn’t seem to be too serious. I like some flowers and others, other flowers I don’t like. I think at least give it a chance.
He named some of his paintings like that—like they’re musical compositions without descriptive names that imply how it should be interpreted.
This piece is titled “Number 1A,” kind of like how Mozart had “Symphony No. 1,″ or “Piano Concerto No. 27,″ etc. I think it’s kind of pretty, but he was just trying to represent himself and his headspace.
“Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.”
He was super into Jung and Freud: “I am particularly impressed with their concept of the source of art being the unconscious”
He was just going with the flow. But if he had wanted to say something specific, there’s plenty of non-pretentious fun to be had on that level. Jackson specifically wanting to challenge what art was at a time when the only acceptable forms of art by rich people (cultural Deciders) were… idk, realistic portraits of themselves—that would have been pretty dope.
I want to talk about Jenna’s relationship with art and meaning, so first I’d like to look at a series of abstract paintings that kind of serve the purpose of your “challenges what art is” concept and really pisses people off.
Yeah. People hate these paintings. Just. Black? Who gave this dude wall space?
But, something pretty cool happens when you look at them! If you standing in front of them, spending some time trying to understand them, your eyes begin to adjust. Soon, you start to see variation. Distinct shapes and colors.
These paintings by Ad Reinhardt are titled variations of “Abstract Painting,” and I think they serve to demonstrate what abstract art can be: something that gains deeper meaning the closer you look, the more you spend time with it. This thing that makes you want to reject the concept of abstract art altogether can make you appreciate it more, if you let it occupy some time and space in your head.
Maybe the idea is pretentious, but there’s also a palpable passion for ideas in the way Reinhardt speaks: “There is a black which is old and a black which is fresh. Lustrous black and dull black, black in sunlight and black in shadow.”
And that’s not something you can limit to the Elite, I’ve seen the same dedication to abstract thinking and symbolic representation in analyzation of fictional tv shows! And Jenna, herself, isn’t lacking in thoughtful commentary on her process and resulting paintings.
Jenna Marbles, Modern Artist
Jenna Marbles, 33 year-old lady and famed youtube artist, has been known to have the “too much gene”.
She has said about her process, “I needed to make them and get them out of my consciousness,” a similar—but more tortured—philosophy to Pollock’s “It came into existence because I had to paint it.”
However, unlike Pollock, who said “I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through,” Jenna is an artist very concerned with maintaining a pleasing aesthetic.
Due to her tendency to continue adding to her works beyond when she considers them aesthetically pleasing (her “too much gene”), she has deemed many of her own works failures, despite critic consensus to the contrary.
This lead to fellow artist, youtuber, and platonic best friend Julien to observe: “You used these paintings as an opportunity to let out your inner out-of-control. I was the exact opposite. It honed me down into a normal, well-behaved person while I was painting.
This highlights the role that process plays in the creation of works of art—much like Pollock’s Action Paintings visually represent the role movement played in the creation of his works. Jenna cannot seem to stop herself.
Jenna, in naming one of her paintings, creates a meta-commentary on all of her works:
This painting, titled “Stop it” functions as a reminder to Jenna to quell her too much gene. As a successful painting by Jenna’s standards, it serves a positive motivational function.
Not knowing the history behind it, we might say “neat” or remark upon the striking dark lines amongst the vibrant colors.
But knowing the context, the history which brought this artist to this point, we can find a deeper meaning. This represents a woman’s struggle to stop herself for her own benefit, like humankind’s journey from base instincts to thoughtful action.
However, perhaps the most important impression we gain from Marbles’ works of art comes from Julien…
What Jenna’s doing is awesome! She’s making the process of abstract art seem more accessible by people who want to have fun, like it should be. But we can have fun with the meanings of works of art, too!
And it can be more fun to look at art history and art that seems detached from our experiences than you might think.
