Jackson Pollack Abstract Painting

Artist or Art Form	Jackson Pollock
Project Type	Tempera paint on canvas - abstract
Name	Sara Horne & Benay Rubin
Grade	Third
Teacher/School	Mrs. N. Kovacic/CES
Date of Presentation	March 12, 2004
Resources Used	*Books: Action Jackson by Jan Greenberg; Website:* Other: pictures of Pollock's work
Project Description	*Description: We did a warm-up exercise of movement and stretches, with paint sticks in hand, to music. (wiggle arms, rotate arms and hand through air, yoga breaths etc.); It was very windy, so we had the kids search for rocks to anchor the canvas outdoors. We split the class into two groups, each group taking a turn at splattering, and throwing paint, without trying to touch the canvas. Eventually some of the kids got their hands onto the canvas spreading and smearing color--certainly very Jacksonesque. We played 4 different kinds of background music. After going inside to clean up, they worked on a word search puzzle. We left the canvas to dry in the classroom over the weekend and hopefully they will use it as a tablecloth later this spring. Materials: music to paint by, after the manner of Pollock; 10 foot canvas, popsicle sticks, paint brushes, squirt paint bottles, tempera paints, word puzzle of twenty "buzz" words related to Pollock and his style Presentation Time*: one hour
Presentation Content	We read "Action Jackson" by Greenberg and introduced the idea of abstract art. We also compared it to our previous two artsmart projects, especially in terms of the human senses being experienced.","We read the book. Then presented: Jackson uses his entire body to produce his art work. He may dance around his canvas with a stick or a splatter brush, or move his arms up and down to create lines on the canvas, or even rub his hands onto the canvas to create different effects. Jackson's emotions or moods would also be portrayed in his artwork through use of color and directions of his lines and squiggles.
Comments	The project was a success in that the students were quite attentive to hearing the story, learning a bit about an art style and the newness of Jackson when he came on the scene in the 50's. They didn't necessarily like his work, but they loved imitating his painting style. They really enjoyed getting active with the paint. It would have been helpful to do the painting on a less windy day, but all in all we think it worked well.