Jim Pollock Question and Answer Main Page
JIM POLLOCK INTERVIEW (copyright) Jim Pollock
4/14/99
Interview questions Student, University of Wales, Swansea, paper on American Political Art
Questions revolve around the subjects of Vietnam Combat Art and subjects chosen.
Q: THE ARTICLES I HAVE READ ON YOUR ART SUGGEST THAT RATHER THAN PAINTING BATTLE SCENES TO GLORIFY THE WAR, A MAJORITY OF YOUR PAINTINGS SHOW SCENES AWAY FROM THE BATTLE FIELD COVERING EVERYDAY LIFE OF THE SOLDIERS AND VILLAGERS, IS THIS TRUE AND IN A SENSE DOES THIS MEAN YOUR PAINTINGS ARE MORE OF A SOCIAL REALISM THAN ROMANTIC?
POLLOCK: As I saw my job as a soldier artist, it was to interpret what I experienced through my art. We did a lot of traveling and visited all types of units. Normally while visiting a unit we would stay from 1-4 days and do whatever they were doing. If they were tramping through rice paddies and jungle, that is what we did. I have estimated that we had visited 52 units and traveled 3600 mile. That is a lot of traveling in a small country like Vietnam. My intent was to leave an account, through my art, of my experience as honestly as I could. I cannot speak for other artists, but I had no social agenda and the military did not interfere in any way with how the artists chosen fulfilled their jobs. The Vietnam War was basically a guerrilla war, for the most part there were no specific lines and '"'battle fields'"'. One condition common for soldiers to endure in Vietnam was the constant presence of danger no matter where one was located. Soldiers would go days and weeks on patrols with no incidents, but the stress and fear of knowing anything could happen at anytime was always with them.
Q. DID YOU INTEND YOUR ART TO ILLUSTRATE THE HIDDEN SIDE OF WAR, AND THEREFORE TO SHOW WHY IT IS NOT A ROMANTIC ACT BUT ONE WHICH IN REALITY IS HORRIFIC AND UNNECESSARY? IF NOT HOW DID YOU WANT PEOPLE TO INTERPRET YOUR ART AND STYLISTIC TECHNIQUE?
POLLOCK: Again, when doing my art I gave no thought to political or social aspects of war. My art was not intended to be pro or anti war. My heart was with the ordinary soldier and I tried to interpret honestly day to day experiences of the soldier as I saw and experienced them at the time. In hindsight I see the work of soldier artists as another media and point of view that historians can use to interpret the past.
Q. FROM THE EVIDENCE WHICH I HAVE READ ABOUT YOUR ARTISTIC CAREER, RATHER THAN YOUR COMBAT ART YOU HAVE BEEN ACCLAIMED FOR YOUR MORE RECENT PAINTINGS OF LESS CONTROVERSIAL SUBJECT MATTERS. DO YOU THINK THAT IS BECAUSE PEOPLE SEE THE REALISM IN YOUR ART RATHER THAN ROMANTICISM AND IN WHICH CASE TRY TO FORGET THE EVENTS RECORDED IN VIETNAM AND THEREFORE PREFER YOUR MORE RECENT AND LESS CONTROVERSIAL PAINTINGS?
POLLOCK: When I was discharged from my duties as a Vietnam Combat Artist, all of the work I did as a soldier belonged to the U.S. Army and is included in the U.S. Army's Center of Military History art collection in Washington, D.C. It is true the subject matter of my art since my days as a soldier have nothing to do with war. There was no conscious effort on my part to forget events in Vietnam, I did my job as a soldier artist and when I left the service I turned to other things.
As a soldier artist I was in my early 20's, twenty-two or twenty-three. Very young in the world of art and I had not defined myself as an artist. This Vietnam experience, in addition to allowing me to contribute something to history, gave me confidence to continue with my art career.
Q: I FEEL THAT IN FUTURE YEARS THAT YOUR PAINTINGS OF THE EVENTS IN VIETNAM WILL BECOME EVEN MORE ACCLAIMED AND AS HISTORICAL SOURCES JUST AS ARTISTS SUCH AS THOMAS ANSHARP HAD THERE EARLY MORE CONTROVERSIAL WORKS HELD IN GREATER ACCLAIM MANY YEARS AFTER THERE CREATION. DO YOU AGREE WITH THIS? WHY?
POLLOCK: The body of works by all of the Army's soldier artists are important historical images and are available for historians. To my knowledge the art done by soldier artists have not been referred to as controversial.
My art has changed and it continues to change over the years. My views on art are also in a constant state of revision. The Vietnam experience, however, did solidify my belief that art can have an important role to play in history even in an age where cameras and photography abound.
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