Physicists explain the science of Jackson Pollock's painting methods

Physicists explain the science of Jackson Pollock's painting methods
(Image credit: Facebook.com/Guggenheim Museum)

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)

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"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.

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Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.