Physicists explain the science of Jackson Pollock's painting methods
Have you ever thought you could splatter paint just as well as Jackson Pollock? Fluid dynamicists at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City are hard at work studying the famed artist's "paint dripping techniques" in order to determine his exact process.
To create his signature "densely tangled lines of color," Pollock used simple household enamel paints, the American Physical Society (APS) notes. The physicists' experiment used a controlled machine to recreate and study the paint dripping process, changing the speed and height of the paint dripping machine to better recreate Pollock's unique works.
(Facebook.com/Guggenheim Museum)
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
"In our lab we have the inability to say 'no' to an interesting fluid mechanics problem, and fluid mechanics can be used to understand painting, since it is essentially a flow problem," mechanical engineering professor Roberto Zenit said in a statement.
Stories of progress and joy, delivered every Thursday
Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.