{"id":1003,"date":"2026-01-01T01:05:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T01:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/?p=1003"},"modified":"2026-06-02T13:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T13:31:33","slug":"action-vs-non-action-painting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/action-vs-non-action-painting\/","title":{"rendered":"Action vs. Non-Action Painting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Artist: Bartosz Kokosi\u0144ski<\/strong>
Titles: Q7bR9k \/ J3mK9y \/ nV4zF5 \/ P1nS6v \/ tW5jS2 \/ eP2qF7<\/strong>
Oil and resin on canvas, 2025.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Action vs. Non-Action Painting<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Action painting, as practiced by Pollock, focuses on the artist\u2019s aggressive gesture. The paint is a passive medium, obediently following the brush and extending the artist\u2019s ego, taking direction and form from human intention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, Kokosi\u0144ski allows the paint to drip freely, giving the drops the ability to shape their own forms. In this way, he cedes control over the painting and shifts attention to the activity of the material itself, letting it co-create the final outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vibrant Matter \/ Active Agency<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jane Bennett emphasizes that matter is active, not passive – objects, substances, and the forces that shape them possess their own agency and can influence outcomes. Kokosi\u0144ski\u2019s method, in which paint drops determine the final form of the work, is a practical embodiment of this theory. The paint becomes a participant in the creative process, acting independently of the artist\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Decentering the Human<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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While Pollock\u2019s works often celebrate the artist\u2019s energy and identity, Kokosi\u0144ski\u2019s approach rejects this egocentric perspective. The painting becomes a space of interaction between human and non-human forces, sometimes privileging the latter. Focusing on the material as an active agent shifts attention away from the human, presenting the world in a more decentralized and open manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Pollock is known for gesture and compositional control, it is worth noting that his painting also accommodates elements of chaos and material unpredictability. Paint drips, penetrates layers, and responds partially independently of the artist\u2019s intention. Kokosi\u0144ski goes further \u2014 or perhaps takes a step back \u2014 consciously withdrawing and relinquishing dominance over the material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The painting seems to emerge like raindrops running down a windowpane, without effort or resistance. Kokosi\u0144ski directs our attention to these micro-interactions, rejecting the hubris of humanism and shifting emphasis from the human to the material itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Micha\u0142 Rutz<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artist: Bartosz Kokosi\u0144skiTitles: Q7bR9k \/ J3mK9y \/ nV4zF5 \/ P1nS6v \/ tW5jS2 \/ eP2qF7Oil and resin on canvas, 2025. Action vs. Non-Action Painting Action painting, as practiced by Pollock, focuses on the artist\u2019s aggressive gesture. The paint is a passive medium, obediently following the brush and extending the artist\u2019s ego, taking direction and form from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,64,68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bartosz-kokosinski","category-essey","category-imagining-queer-utopia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1003"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1814,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions\/1814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michalrutz.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}