6/6 The Rules Of Abstraction With Matthew Collings
• 1/6 The Rules Of Abstr...
First broadcast: Sep 2014.
Documentary in which painter and critic Matthew Collings charts the rise of abstract art over the last 100 years, whilst trying to answer a set of basic questions that many people have about this often-baffling art form. How do we respond to abstract art when we see it? Is it supposed to be hard or easy? When abstract artists chuck paint about with abandon, what does it mean? Does abstract art stand for something or is it supposed to be understood as just itself?
These might be thought of as unanswerable questions, but by looking at key historical figures and exploring the private world of abstract artists today, Collings shows that there are, in fact, answers.
Living artists in the programme create art in front of the camera using techniques that seem outrageously free, but through his friendly-yet-probing interview style Collings immediately establishes that the work always has a firm rationale. When Collings visits 92-year-old Bert Irvin in his studio in Stepney, east London he finds that the colourful works continue experiments in perceptual ideas about colour and space first established by abstract art pioneers such as Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky in the 1910s.
Other historic artists featured in the programme include the notorious Jackson Pollock, the maker of drip paintings, and Mark Rothko, whose abstractions often consist of nothing but large expanses of red. Collings explains the inner structure of such works. It turns out there are hidden rules to abstraction that viewers of this intriguing, groundbreaking programme may never have expected.
what I enjoy the most watching this series is 'meeting' the artists themselves in their studios, working and reflecting on their painting process, answering questions from Collings and all the while leting us the audience to the understanding that abstraction can actually be quite down to earth.
Never understood why Rothko's paintings were so important until I saw one at the MoMA in NYC. It makes such a huge difference to see these paintings in person. Seeing a painting on a screen is like smelling something being cooked vs eating a meal.
Wait youll see why they took me by surprise. People use abstraction in maths and science if you think they are good maybe youd see how that might translate. Thing is once you realise things seem a bit pointless but justified in there inertia somehow. do you like the sky or feel indifferent about it?
But if something smells bad, I'm not gonna eat it, no matter how many people tell me that how it tastes wasn't the chef's point.
I took an MoMA online course on abstract expressionists. We had the opportunity to optionally submit assignments in the style of the artist being studied. I can honestly say, it was then that I saw the light and was able to appreciate Rothko, Barnet Newman and Pollock. I submitted an assignment in the style of Barnet Newman. I had experience in painting abstract. I couldn’t imagine that regardless, to materialize a feeling in Newman’s zip style will represent a very tough challenge.
for me the difference is between seeing it cooking on tv and actually smelling it ...
@@VfletchS or the looks of it lol
Getting to watch Albert work in his studio makes this video my most favourite of the series. It feels like I'm only painting nouns at the moment, but my goal is to (as Albert says) paint more verbs.
This has been a valuable series to absorb. Being an artist myself, it helps to see bios like this. Kind of helps us feel a bit more balanced. Thank you
In a time when happiness is elusive watching Artists at work makes me very happy!
I've been kinda bored with my work lately and I've been trying mixing it up as much as possible. Very inspiring to see the studios of working artists of the 2010s. This was very informative and great to take in, especially during the pandemic. Thank you! CBM
Matthew Collings boils down abstraction to what was essential to the pioneer painters and painters of today. Beautifully presented and chock full of art history that is new to me. I only wish my art history professors (at a well-known Art school in the US) had introduced me to many of these painters and their theories. I might have been a different painter today.
Excellent documentary. Congratulations. Is so uplifting to see the works of those great artists then and now.
This video made me realise how little the eyes see, and the mind adds the rest. As an artist, I needed to find this out. Wow! My mind is blown!
His thought in his process just beautiful,from the place he stands.
I was happily surprised that this sounds so fresh, on a subject that is so over-played. I loved this, especially the focus on spirituality and the part on Klint; very inspiring.
I love these documentaries made by BBC and this is one of the best. I am a representational artist, and learned a lot from this. What I learned is that the objective of abstract art is not to explain, but to engage people in the world it presents. That is why some people find it difficult to "understand." But you don't have to understand it. You just engage yourself in it, or just feel it. That's the beauty of abstract. Boy, this documentary changed the way I see the world.
Nothing to understand about that olds men painting
A kid could do that
Those artist's studios are crazy! Love the 800 paint tubes everywhere!
Thanking you for this most inspiring,brilliant journey : Matthew it has been a privilege to have found your video,I have learnt so much from your blog that has been massively inspirational musical &spiritually a great privilege Thank you 🙏 loved every min ! I come from South Africa 🇿🇦
wonderful glimpse of these artists. Very inspiring for me as an artist stiving to know and understand the works of others.
I love that tern "to make the surface breathe"
Thank you. Brilliant. I shared this with my teenage son - an artist inside and out. I'm sure he'll feel encouraged and inspired, as did I.
May Artist's works and meanings reach far more of this world ... ✨🔹🔺
Excellent series, I enjoyed it immensely.
THANKYOU for the finer, more abstact thoughts about the unity, structure of colors and themes.
Fantastic series, very educational and inspiring. Thank you so much for this journey
Thank you BBC, a lots of thanks also to mr Matthew he did a great presentation!
Wonderful documentary. Thanks for posting it for us to enjoy.
Thoroughly enjoyed watching this series.
I love art more and more with these kind of videos. Thank you.
Fantastic series! 2 time watching it within a couple year period and I'm sure there will be another! Enore please!
It has been so so elevating, each line spoken. Thank you for creating this.
Lovely - thank you Matthew Collings, BBC, and Art Documentaries.
Hmmm great serie! I love those two narrators and the presentations. And yes, how insightful of that artist, painting is a language, yes!! I was always trying to explain that relationship, how come it never occurred to me such a great analogy !
Really brilliant writing - sometimes left me breathless.
He could blather on about anything , and he does . Good enough for a bored housewife .
Enjoyed your teachings on Abstraction ! Great ! Thank you Mr. Collings .
I find abstraction fascinating and challenging. Thanks for this great series! It made abstraction a little clearer and that is no small thing.
Wow. That was a fantastic series. Thank you!
Thank you. Artists just have a need to express themselves emotionally, and their wisdom guides them to the materials that helps them to do so. It just feels good if you are lucky to find it. Then you can proceed more happily with your life. Some one or an idea that instructs you in the right direction is a gift.
Brilliant, i learned a lot from this series. thank you for sharing. love Sonia Delaunay's work so much!
Thank you for this amazing doc. As an artist this is very interesting and inspirational
Thank you this was wonderful. I’m an Abstract Artist, and I’m finding it hard to get seen. I hope one day to be like these artists. But I feel my work is getting there
Thanks for sharing your insights! I'll "look" at abstract art differently now...
It’s amazing how many paintings by modern artists that feature in this documentary were produced in 2012. Was a year we had some absolutely amazing exhibitions come to London and of course the Olympics too! I wonder if these were inspirational to our artists to be particularly productive in this year!
I do think that abstract art in many ways is a kind of visual music. But it is also an essential dimension of all kinds of experience. Our physical boy e.g. can be experienced as a figure, a moving form, but the ways we experience both our own body and other bodies are in no way static. It changes because our experience is always filled with rhytms - physical rhythms that are dynamically mirroring the doing, the thinking, the feeling states we are open to. We become part of any experience of the world around us and our lived body experience can change from the very figurative, narrative dimension into experiences of light and limitlessness - free dancing is a very strong way of changing the vibrational states of being so that the body transcends into pure rhythm or transforms into alteret states of being
Very interesting. I just happen to love abstract art, and this was fluid and entertaining. I came away with a better grip of its meaning. Great presentation. I kinda feel relaxed like I just got off my Harley after shooting 500 rd's at the range...
loved it. thank you.
Thanks for putting this up. Couldn't get it on the beeb. Good stuff.
Excellent presentation Matthew Collins ...
Matthew you are a legend. Love your videos.
Great documentary! Loved it.
Thanks for the upload
thank you for sharing
great programme.
Wonderful! Thank you very much!
Presentation of Collings is so interesting.
He does all right, and he is sympathetic to the artists he meets.
Very much appreciate this.
Amazing serie
Amazing documentary
Great documentary!! Splendid
I really enjoyed this documentary but #5 was missing. Loved seeing the history of abstract art.
Very helpful, and informative.
Really enjoyed this.
Son documentales excelentes para entender y respetar el arte abstracto.
Mighty thank you...
Excellent! Very interesting and educational and inspirational ♥
Very uplifting in these pandemic days.
Best BBC Doc ever.
out of all the art I seen in videos 1 thru 6 I do really like it to get some ideas from to create my own
'we live in a time wealth is sinister' - bravo to the art world for questioning what has in the past and present, wealth has done to the human race - 'as art processes contradictions', love this series!
Thanks so much for posting all of this. It's a shame they didn't/couldn't get Howard Hodgkin.
very enjoyable documentary
It's all about perceived value. I personally enjoyed this documentary very much. Found some interesting new artists as well! Now to find the song at the end of this.... Edit: Found it, if anyone is wondering lol: The Cinematic Orchestra - Entr'acte. That specific part is around the 11 minute mark.
So pleased to have El Anatsui included in the discussion! I would have also preferred inclusion of Richard Diebenkorn, with a whole lot less Rothko...
Great documentary, though I wish vorticism would get more love. Wyndham Lewis, Helen Saunders and Lawrence Atkinson (among others) created incredibly vivid, eye-appealing works. Some of which I think are more profound than the 'classic' abstract pieces.
#6... what a shame it's already finished. I'd like to see six more of these. Anyway, thank you.
Thank you for your quick response. I am viewing at this in France on my ipad, and doesn't work.
Does anybody know whats the music at the beginning? Debatable subjects aside, I find this documentary has some very nice soundtracks !
“Video not available” Any reason why? Just watched episodes 1-5 of 6.
6/6 are only blocked in Germany, and not available on some devices, this may be mobile phones, video game consoles or set-top boxes.
I used to go to museums with someone who had to try to find the "meaning" of every painting we looked at...it soon became a huge exhaustive pain in the a**...I had to stop going with them...I personally don't want or need to know what the artist had in mind...many artists paint what pleases them and have no "deep and profound meaning" in mind at all... Trying to analyze things very often kills the magic.
Shows you not a thinker . Closed minded idiot
'the rule of optimism' in abstract art is what the human race so desperately needs in today's world, can this rule help to turn around the dark and bleak future we all face in the midst of abrupt climate change? either way, it brings me a sense of hope to follow the courageous act of all the abstract artists to push on no matter what, to do genuine work, may it be art or science, following 'the rule of optimism.'
10:00 Left out the part about alcohol being associated with pleasure and wealth, but really being toxic and squalid.
Rothko is why I picked up a paint brush. Before that I was a potter and a musician.
It looks as if the artists in this series got trapped by their own success. They hit pay dirt with either recognition or money and they stayed with what got them there, rather than evolving. Artists have got to eat, too. But, I think only the failed artist can experience art for art's sake and the joy that it brings.
kind of elitist art, seems to me. But I'm a novice
I admire and respect abstract art and artists, but I still don’t understand it. Even after watching many videos attempting to explain it, including this series, and hearing artists talk about their motivations and intentions, I have no idea what they are talking about, or what they are trying to achieve. I enjoyed this documentary but I’d hoped that this series would finally shed a light on the subject, but I have more questions than answers. My quest for understanding continues.
Wow!.. not sure about it being in 6 parts.. but it has made me more confident about the next time I throw some colour around, and has reinforced some paths I was already on, and given me the faith for the ones still to come.
Does anyone know the music at 8:45? Thanks!
3/6 and 6/6 are missing. It would great if you could reload them, thanks
3/6 + 6/6 are only blocked in Germany, and not available on some devices, this may be mobile phones, video game consoles or set-top boxes.
Since I started painting,interested in abstract painting coz feeling that they contain some emotion.then this video tells me it’s related with spirituality such as Rudolf Steiner.now understanding
Old men's painting is total garbage . Just inventing shit in his head
Look like a kid painted that
@@Moodboard39 kid paint doesn't mean bad. I dont care good painting or bad one coz i didnt do it. I dont care expensive or cheap coz i dont buy them. Even criticizing other's work, it doesnt make your work great.
@@TheMomography Yea, of course not ... They just kids lol the point his painting total garbage 🗑️
👍🏻 great ,,!
Surprised hasn't mentioned Fractalism as next step in Abstractionism in the digital age
Art made by Artificial Intelligence is quite an odd one..or is it "art"?!
Looking at parts 1-6, it seems abstract art is as personal as your own toothbrush. Find/invent a rule and carry it out consistently with all your inherent personal bias. If you want to attach a trendy, catchy,marketing philosophical basis with whatever intended meaning_go ahead, there are plenty of people who will buy into that. Who is to say you are wrong. Every second we are flooded with 50 GB of data passing through each cell ; of that about 2KB of data bubbles up to the conscious mind and of that we basically can handle 1 byte out of all of that....ie one part in 50 billion....so therefore anything can mean anything, depending on the filter of one's consciousness. The only thing we have in common is our nervous systems and encultured beliefs. It might be better to study how the eye works and its perceptual limited design + new materials and optical properties + chuck in a bit of neuro science. I dare say a bit of chemistry might help as well.
+Louise Boucher No, music is not "as personal as your own toothbrush." Music is composed with a specific purpose and creates a specific MOOD. Abstract art usually (not always) fails at creating a specific mood. Modern art in general tries to "make a point" or make a social commentary, always cerebral, not emotional. Music (at least good music) creates a mood and a feeling. So, abstract art is not comparable to music.
+Louise Boucher I am someone who really doesn,t understand or see any quality in this some people call Art.Is there a secret code or something to look for when you look at this stuff. If there is something like a code or some magical potion i can get from somewhere to see something good in this stuff. Maybe some educational institution that I can do a course in to get it.
+Louise Boucher hmm. so I should feel it in my soul My soul is not as well developed as yours. I look at Rembrandts ,Rubens and I really feel something very special and can look at it in amazement for hours. I look at say a Pollack and I see a mess. Or A piece of shit splattered on the wall and I see crap. I have a lot of work to do on myself to elevate to a higher level of development in appreciation of modern Art. Mathew Collins simply doesn,t work for me. If you can direct me to a higher order of understanding please help me.
+Louise Boucher Louise when I went to high school Pollack was all the rage in Australia. I thought he was great after listening to academics sell his Art to me. I have been a painter for over 20 yrs and realized that Art relying on accidents and not much reference to past masters teachings is basically a gimmick, fraudulent and not honest. Very little skill involved. Put a Pollack next to a Rembrandt and you may understand. I have seen Rembrandt's at famous Art museums and am mesmerized by a whole range of quality. In paint application, color mixing ,textures, paint stroke application,focus, honesty, drawing, lighting, composition, color relationships, understanding of color contrasts, tone variations etc. I look at a Pollock today and I see a swirl of paint thrown around in a drunken stupor I look at a Picasso and I see.poor understanding of Art expression and only gimmick. I visit Modern Art Galleries and see very little which inspires me to continue wanting to develop my professional desire of accomplishing works at a high standard. Doing Art without an end goal of accomplishment is futile. Saying you should feel the Artwork in the contemporary sense is a bit like saying if you don,t get it something is wrong with you. You gotta get it to fit in with the new dominant way of thinking in the Contemporary Art culture. If you don,t get it something is the matter with you. That I am afraid is why Art has very few followers by mainstream public support. It is sad because most people don,t like it and see it as a novelty for a small exclusive club of believers I would much rather hang on to my individualism and stick with what I know and like rather than follow a mob following a false Art religion which has no future or historical life. Thanks for your responses..
It's really not a matter of "soul" or of "gimmicks", but it is a matter of sensibility. It's a matter of realizing that, no matter how beautiful a naturalistic painting looks, it is still just paint on a flat surface. Let's see what else we can do with that paint. Let's see what we else can do with that surface. We've been using it to replicate what our eyes see, can we use it for something else? Do our eyes really see the world in the same way we construct a naturalistic painting? Can you actually put a 3D object into a 2D surface? A painting of a pipe is not a pipe, but is a painting of a red triangle a red triangle? If a canvas is an object sharing the same space as me, how does my space interact with the space of the painting? Are they really different spaces? None of my favorite classic artists posed these kinds of questions to me as clearly and urgently as the modernists, and I can honestly say my figurative work has only gotten stronger after I started studying abstraction.
Rothko is amazing, El Anatsui is wonderful
He said sinister! I typed that a little while ago. That's uncanny.
I'm struggling with the bottle caps. Have a think about it. Is it the same? No it isn't. Are we sure?
What's the struggle ? do you know what abstract art means ????? Or you think it has to be an actual canvas with color or paint on it
Wow
No Dekooning!!!
Modern art is interesting and appealing in many ways, but I think it's a poor second to what came before, in the way that Rapp music compares to Mozart. I believe too that what becomes trendy and hot in modern art is heavily influenced by the tastes of a few powerful people in that rarified world. I know there are many who would disagree, and that's okay. I will continue to like art that shows beauty, craftsmanship, and technical genius instead of the ability to set trends.
My 9 years old niece paints almost exactly like that 90 yo brother.
Al I do know is you need to be smokin some good weed to explain it the way this dude does!
Paint on 5:24 pure garbage
I'm wondering why more female artists were not featured in this documentary.
You could take all the other contemporary abstract artists that he filmed working in these videos and they wouldn't collectively add up to El Anatsui. His work is the true successor to police and Rothko. The others are pushing paint around, in my opinion. As i watch the conclusion to the video, I get the sense that he agrees. El Anatsui is welding abstract form and meaning in a unique way. It may not even accurately fit the definition of abstract in its appropriation of the language of textiles. But is resonates on so many levels. I'd like to get that same richness in my own work- taking the now well-worn language of abstraction and investing it with meaning again.
even after watching all 6 vids I still don't understand.....
“Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew
Wtf. I was really enjoying your series. Now #6 is not available to me. That's disappointing.
3/6 + 6/6 are only blocked in Germany, and not available on some devices, this may be mobile phones, video game consoles or set-top boxes.