How do you turn music into a Jackson Pollock painting?

Jackson Pollock developed a technique of flinging paint across giant canvases that were spread on the ground. His abstract paintings expressed raw emotion, and avoided rational symbols and images. Pollock’s art was a direct translation of actions of his body. This technique, used by him and other artists, was therefore named “Action Painting”.

Beat Painter responds to the different sonic parameters of the song without attempting to express neither its subject, nor its lyrics and meaning. Like in Pollock's art, the digital painting is affected by movements in the music - manifested in the rhythm, the volume, the pitch - and translates them spontaneously into strokes of paint.

Pollock’s approach gave rise to questions about the role of the artist when the painting technique leaves so much to physics and chance. You, too, could put yourself in JP’s shoes and experience a considerable, yet restricted, measure of control over the resulting art. You can dictate the length of the stroke, the amount of paint dripped in every line, and the number of colors used. You can even decide that the strokes on your canvas will be exclusively Black and White (Pollock did this for an entire year). Leave the rest to the music, and to coincidence.

No painting is the same. Every person, every song, every computer, every point in time - will bring about a unique and personal work of art. Share it with your fellow artists and friends.