NARRATOR：

Listen to a conversation between a student and an art professor

FEMALE STUDENT：

Hi, Dr. Morton? I'm Karen Stern. I met you briefly about a year ago when I was applying to the university.

You were on a panel of professors, and you were talking about the art department.

MALE PROFESSOR：

Ahh... and you're now a student here. I guess I said the right thing.

FEMALE STUDENT：

Yeah. Right now I'm doing the intro courses in the art department, but I'm really interested in painting.

MALE PROFESSOR：

Well, I teach several of the painting courses... so I hope to see you in the future.

FEMALE STUDENT：

Actually I was wondering... you're in charge of student art exhibitions at the university gallery, right?

MALE PROFESSOR：

Right.

FEMALE STUDENT：

So, I know all the exhibitors are students, but I was wondering how you choose the works you exhibit every month.

Is there, like, a submission process or something?

MALE PROFESSOR：

No, there is a submission process—yes.

We have a gallery review committee.

But we already have our exhibitions planned for the rest of this school year.

Generally our exhibitors are third- and fourth-year students... well into their course work.

FEMALE STUDENT：

[kind of disappointed] Oh... well... I guess that'll be something to look forward to then.

Tell me, do you show all kinds of paintings?

MALE PROFESSOR：

Well, actually, we started doing something different with the gallery this year.

We're featuring a specific technique each month.

Next month's exhibition, for instance, will feature drip paintings.

FEMALE STUDENT：

Really? Like Jackson Pollock?

MALE PROFESSOR：

Ah, so you're familiar with Pollock's work?

FEMALE STUDENT：

Well, sort of, though I've only seen photographs of it.

I know he dripped paint onto the canvas instead of using a brush.

I read he stretched out his canvases on the floor of his studio, and then he climbed up on a ladder to pour paint...ordinary house paint... from a can onto the canvas.

MALE PROFESSOR：

That's right. That was characteristic of Pollock in the late forties, in what we call his drip period.

And the object was to produce a constant stream of paint to create continuous lines.

Because, as you know, when you use a brush directly on a canvas, you get broken lines.

So, you like Pollock?

FEMALE STUDENT：

Yeah, I do. I like abstract works in general.

There's a class on abstract art, right?

MALE PROFESSOR：

Actually, I teach that class. And drip painting was one of our themes last year.

Some students from last year's class have continued experimenting with it.

They've created some incredible pieces...using everything from squeeze bottles to computer-controlled sprayers.

FEMALE STUDENT：

Do they look a lot like Pollock's work?

MALE PROFESSOR：

Well, our goal wasn't to imitate Jackson Pollock.

The object was to get students to look at different ways of applying paint to a canvas.

But you don't have to enroll in a specific course to be invited to exhibit your work....

It just has to fit the theme for one of our exhibitions.