Adults? Difficultly. But children? Yes. Researchers asked participants to splash diluted paint onto leaves.
The most frequent criticism of Jackson Pollock – especially for drip painting works – it’s usually this: “Anyone would do this”. Or the most common reaction: “Even a child would do this”.
Pollock spread a canvas on the floor and splashed colors. It spread, dripped drops, threw colors.
Many critics (probably mostly non-specialists) claim that his paintings appear chaotic, random and technically simple; lacks formal skill or clear intention. Others argue that Pollock wanted to reflect the controlled mechanics and movements of the body on canvas as he painted.
A new one wanted to check whether a child could really create a work similar to those of the US artist.
The researchers asked 18 children (between 4 and 6 years old) and 34 adults (from 18 to 25 years old), who created works inspired by Pollock; splashed diluted paint on sheets of paper placed on the floor.
Then there was a mathematical analysis careful attention to the fractals of the images (patterns that are repeated at different scales, such as trees, clouds and mountains) and lacunarity (focuses on the variations in the gaps between groups of paint).
They were evaluated as complexities of patterns and blanks.
The paintings of adults they had greater pattern density and wider ink paths; the lines shot out in many directions.
The paintings of children had small-scale patterns and more gaps between paint groups; with simpler, one-dimensional trajectories, fewer changes in direction – reflecting differences in body movement compared to adults, summarizes .
In other words, the children’s paintings were more similar to works of abstract expressionism. Yes, the children made Pollock-style paintings; more than adults.
According to researchers, changes in the biomechanical balance of an artist can explain why children replicate these works better.
Because, due to what happened when he was born (he was almost strangled by his own umbilical cord), his balance was affected – and his movements will have become simpler, closer to the movements… of a child.
