Pollock and his fellow Abstract Expressionists felt anxiety, insecurity, and ambiguity about the world around them that they articulated in their work. This sense of loss can be seen in their active approach to painting. Pollock, for instance, dipped sticks into paint, which he then splattered over unstretched canvas that was spread out on the floor. His controlled but natural movements, reminiscent of a shamanic dance, conveyed his examination of his own feelings. Enchanted Forest of 1947 is an example of Pollock's visual, emotional, and symbolic language. The artist poured, splattered, and dripped paint over canvas, revealing his rhythmic art movements around the picture plane. Dark lines, spills, and spots envelope the surface with black, brown, red, and white, inviting us to peer in-between the hairlike formations. There is a magnetic push and pull between the multiple layers of this painting which creates a sense of depth. We become mesmerized by the intricate and energetic play of line and shape. This approach to painting became known as Action painting and stemmed directly from the Dadaists and Surrealists' investigations of automatism, such as Jean Arp's chance collages and Max Ernst's frottage compilations.
Many other artists were influenced by Fantastic concepts as well. Every day we encounter fantastic images or ideas in one way or another, whether it's in a movie, in a gallery, or in a dream.
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