Lena Rivera
Happenings and Action Painting are interconnected through their shared emphasis on the creative process and performance. Happenings, as coined by Allan Kaprow, were performance-based artworks that drew on the ideas of Action Painting, particularly the work of Jackson Pollock. Kaprow's Happenings sought to collapse the hierarchy between artist and audience, making the audience an active participant. This shift towards performance-based art was influenced by Action Painting's focus on the act of creation and the artist's process, rather than the final product. Action Painting, as defined by art critic Harold Rosenberg, emerged in the 1940s-1950s and was characterized by spontaneous, expressive gestures such as dripping, pouring, and splashing paint, reflecting the unrest and anxiety of the post-World War II era. Thus, Happenings built upon the foundations laid by Action Painting, expanding the notion of art beyond the canvas and into the realm of performance and audience interaction.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition | Happenings are performance-based art that draw on commonplace materials from the artist's immediate surroundings. |
| Action Painting is a style of abstract painting in which paint is spontaneously dripped, smeared, splashed, or poured directly onto the canvas. | |
| History | Happenings were coined by Kaprow, inspired by Jackson Pollock and ideas of Action Painting. |
| Action Painting was primarily a celebration of the painterly or expressive gesture, with artists leaving raw, primal marks in their pure, virgin state. | |
| Action Painting was influenced by the Impressionists, who emphasised the nature of paint and brush marks, and the French Surrealists, who worked based on automatic drives rather than planning and forethought. | |
| Happenings were influenced by Action Painting and were a less angst-ridden evolution of the movement. | |
| Philosophy | Happenings sought to collapse the hierarchy of artist and audience by loosening the artist's control of events and making the audience an active component in the performance. |
| Action Painting was influenced by Jung and Freud's ideas of the subconscious, with painters tapping into their internal visions to create their paintings. | |
| Action Painting was also influenced by Surrealism's emphasis on automatism and psychoanalysis, which claimed to provide a more direct access to the subconscious mind. | |
| Happenings and Action Painting both emphasise the creative process over the final product. |
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What You'll Learn
- Happenings creator Allan Kaprow was inspired by Jackson Pollock and ideas of Action Painting
- Kaprow's happenings were performance-based art, using commonplace materials
- Action Painting is a wild, free, and expressive strand of art from 1950s America
- Action Painting is about the creative act, not the final product
- Happenings and Action Painting both emphasise the importance of the audience
Happenings creator Allan Kaprow was inspired by Jackson Pollock and ideas of Action Painting
Happenings were performance-based artworks created by Allan Kaprow, who is considered the "Father of the Happening". Kaprow was a painter who studied with Hans Hoffman and was influenced by Cubism and Abstract Expressionism. In the late 1950s, Kaprow began to transition from painting to performance art, seeking to develop an art form that required the artist and the spectator to become "interchangeably involved". This shift was inspired by Jackson Pollock and his ideas of Action Painting.
Kaprow's "happenings" were indebted to Pollock and Action Painting, as he sought to push the boundaries of painting, just as Pollock had done. In his essay "The Legacy of Jackson Pollock" (1958), Kaprow reflected on Pollock's impact and his revolutionary style, which encouraged artists to embrace self-destruction for the integrity of their artwork. Kaprow also introduced the idea of performance-based art in an article published in 1958, titled "The Legacy of Jackson Pollock". In this article, Kaprow argued that Pollock had taken painting as far as it could go, and that it was now time for art to spill over from the canvas and enter real life.
Kaprow's "happenings" existed in real spaces, not confined to the walls of museums or galleries, and they took place in the present moment. He rejected the materials of painting, instead using commonplace materials found in his immediate surroundings. This departure from traditional art materials was influenced by Pollock's drip paintings, which prioritised the act of painting over the final product. Kaprow's "happenings" sought to collapse the hierarchy between the artist and the audience by making the audience an active component in the performance.
Action Painting, a term coined by art critic Harold Rosenberg in 1952, described a style of painting that emphasised the act of creation over the final product. This style was closely associated with abstract expressionism and the New York School of American Abstract Expressionism. Action Painters were concerned with how viewers approached their paintings, and they sought to evoke a sense of the primeval and tap into the collective subconscious mind. This was achieved by painting "unconsciously" and spontaneously, creating a powerful arena of raw emotion and action.
Kaprow was inspired by these ideas and sought to create art that was actively involved in ritual, magic, and life itself. He wanted to reinsert the process of art-making into daily life, blurring the boundaries between art and life. Kaprow's early "happenings", such as "Pastorale" and "18 Happenings in 6 Parts" (1958), were performed outdoors with a small group of artist friends, marking a departure from the bravura and buzz surrounding Pollock.
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Kaprow's happenings were performance-based art, using commonplace materials
Allan Kaprow, an American artist, coined the term "happening" and significantly influenced the development of performance art. Kaprow's "happenings" were performance-based art that drew on commonplace materials. Kaprow introduced the idea of performance-based art, inspired by Jackson Pollock's work, in his 1958 article "The Legacy of Jackson Pollock". He felt that Pollock had pushed painting to its limits, to the point where it would spill over the edges of the canvas and enter real life. Kaprow's happenings existed in real spaces, not confined to the walls of museums or galleries, and in the present moment.
Kaprow's happenings sought to reject the traditional materials of painting and the notion of art as an object. He wanted to create art from the stuff of one's immediate surroundings, not the abstruse confections of paint practised by Action Painting. Kaprow's happenings used disposable elements like cardboard or cans, making it cheaper for him to change up his art pieces. He also pointed out that presenting his works in lofts, stores, and basements widened the concept of theatre by destroying the barrier between the audience and the play, demonstrating the organic connection between art and its environment.
Kaprow's happenings brought to life the ideas of chance encounters and giving significance to everyday events. These participatory events blurred the line between what was life and what was art, what was an everyday movement and what was a performance. Kaprow believed that the line between art and life should be kept as fluid and indistinct as possible. For instance, in one of his happenings titled "Eighteen Happenings in Six Parts", the audience moved together to experience elements such as a band playing toy instruments, a woman squeezing an orange, and painters painting. In another happening, Kaprow brought people into a room filled with ice cubes, which they had to touch, causing them to melt.
Kaprow's happenings also sought to collapse the hierarchy between the artist and the audience by loosening the artist's control of events and making the audience an active component in the performance. An ensemble was required for the musical and theatrical pieces that he programmed, and the audience was issued a booklet of instructions on how to proceed through the performance. Kaprow's happenings can be interpreted as a critique of consumerism and capitalism, offering an alternative to art that was sold as objects.
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Action Painting is a wild, free, and expressive strand of art from 1950s America
Action Painting, sometimes called "gestural abstraction", is a wild, free, and expressive strand of art from 1950s America. The term was coined by art critic Harold Rosenberg in 1952 in his essay "The American Action Painters", and it described paintings that were made through grand, performative gestures such as dripping, pouring, dribbling, and splashing.
Rosenberg observed a rising trend in American art of the 1940s and 1950s for action-based painting, in which gestures became an integral part of the final artwork. He brought together his ideas in the iconic essay titled "The American Action Painters", published in ARTnews in 1952. Action Painting became recognized as a strand of Abstract Expressionism that had closer ties with Performance art. The movement was also closely associated with the New York School of American Abstract Expressionism.
Action Painting emphasized the revolutionary nature of the artist's decision to paint. Rosenberg elaborated on ideas of painting as an action that he had heard in artists' studios and wove them with Marxist theory, Existential philosophy, and his thoughts on drama to articulate his description of the new American painting. The resulting work often emphasized the physical act of painting itself as an essential aspect of the finished work or concern of its artist.
Rosenberg believed that Action Painting came about as a response to the after-effects of World War II. He argued that artists associated with this school were responding to the dehumanizing effects of war with a direct, human language, drawing attention back to the subjectivity of the individual. Action Painting was also a response to the economic stagnation following the Great Depression, expressing a widespread cultural need for radical political change.
Action Painters were not interested in depicting illusionistic scenes but in rendering the energy and movement of life in a visible way on the canvas. They were concerned with how viewers approached their paintings. The paintings were meant to touch the observer deep in the subconscious mind, evoking a sense of the primeval and tapping into the collective sense of an archetypal visual language. This was done by the artist painting "unconsciously" and spontaneously, creating a powerful arena of raw emotion and action in the moment.
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Action Painting is about the creative act, not the final product
Happenings and Action Painting are closely connected. Happenings, a term coined by Allan Kaprow for his performances, are deeply indebted to Jackson Pollock and the ideas of Action Painting. Kaprow's happenings sought to reject the materials of painting, instead drawing on commonplace materials found in the artist's immediate surroundings.
Action Painting is a style of abstract painting that emerged in the 1940s in the US, lasting until the early 1960s. It is closely associated with Abstract Expressionism and has been compared to the French style of Tachisme. The term was first introduced by art critic Harold Rosenberg in his 1952 essay "The American Action Painters".
Rosenberg observed a rising trend in American art of the 1940s and 1950s for action-based painting, where the gestures of the artist became an integral part of the final artwork. Action Painters like Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, and Willem de Kooning were focused on their own process as painters and connecting with their unconscious, rather than creating a tangible object.
The Action Painting style is characterized by spontaneous, impulsive, and intuitive techniques, such as dripping, pouring, dribbling, smearing, splashing, and flinging paint directly onto the canvas, which is often placed face-up on the floor. This approach to painting emphasized the creative act, with the painterly gestures and marks left clearly visible, giving the artwork a fresh, clean immediacy.
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Happenings and Action Painting both emphasise the importance of the audience
Happenings and Action Painting are interconnected art movements that emphasise the importance of the audience. Happenings, a term coined by Allan Kaprow, refers to performance-based art that draws on commonplace materials and seeks to collapse the hierarchy between the artist and the audience. Kaprow's happenings existed in real spaces and encouraged audience participation, making them an active component in the performance. This approach was influenced by Jackson Pollock and the ideas of Action Painting, which emphasised the creative act and process over the final product.
Action Painting, as defined by art critic Harold Rosenberg in the 1950s, describes paintings created through grand, performative gestures such as dripping, pouring, dribbling, and splashing. The actions and means of creating the painting were considered more important than the result. This shift in focus from the object to the act of creation elevated the importance of the audience's interpretation and experience of the artwork.
Both Happenings and Action Painting challenge traditional notions of art by emphasising the role of the viewer. In Happenings, the audience becomes a participant, actively engaging with the performance and influencing its outcome. Similarly, in Action Painting, the audience is invited to consider the artist's process, the gestures, and the emotions behind the creation of the work. The paintings become a record of the artist's physical act of painting, inviting the viewer to interpret the raw emotions and energy conveyed.
The emphasis on audience participation and engagement in Happenings and Action Painting fosters a sense of inclusivity and interaction. By involving the audience, these art forms create a shared experience, blurring the boundaries between artist and viewer. This participation also adds an element of unpredictability, as the audience's actions and reactions become part of the artistic process, influencing the overall outcome.
Furthermore, Happenings and Action Painting encourage a shift in perspective, inviting the audience to consider the artist's process and intention. In Happenings, the audience is guided through the performance with instructions, becoming aware of their role and presence in the space. Similarly, in Action Painting, the audience is encouraged to view the canvas as an "arena in which to act", focusing on the artist's actions and the creative process rather than solely on the final artwork. This shift in perspective invites the audience to engage with the art on a deeper level, exploring the underlying emotions, ideas, and intentions behind the work.
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Frequently asked questions
Happenings and Action Painting are connected through their shared focus on the creative process and performance. Happenings, as coined by Allan Kaprow, were performance-based artworks that drew on the ideas of Action Painting, taking it into real space and making the audience an active component.
Kaprow's Happenings were influenced by Jackson Pollock and the ideas of Action Painting. Kaprow's performances existed in real space, outside of the gallery, and sought to involve the audience in the performance. Kaprow's work rejected the materials of painting, instead focusing on the immediate surroundings, a departure from the Action Painting movement.
Action Painting, as defined by Harold Rosenberg, emphasised the process of creating art over the final product. This shift in focus inspired Happenings and other art movements like Fluxus, Conceptual Art, and Performance Art, allowing artists to focus on experimental processes and ideas.
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