MAKING DESIGNS BY CHANCE

Natural and accidental designs are all around and have inspired countless photos, tapestries, etc.; unfortunately Helfman's photos of underdifferentiated tree bark and tangled branches, layered rock, broken glass and cracked pavement indicate that he hasn't bothered to do much looking around for striking samples. Instead he suggests that readers follow Jackson Pollock's lead (!) and make their own haphazard drips and splashes, cut paper collages (simply glue the pieces where they land when you drop them), finger paint or crayon shaving or pressed string prints, and ""object tracings"" (the trick here being to draw lines around the keys, combs, etc., exactly where you have placed them with your eyes closed). Here again the pictured examples prove only that Pollock's success is not all that easy to achieve.