Autopoiesis Illuminated through the Artwork of Turner, Pollock and Ilachinski

Abstract

The artwork of Joseph Mallord William Turner, Jackson Pollock and Andrew Ilachinski are shown to reveal the autopoietic characteristics of nature through portrayals of weather, fractal patterns and water flow. Autopoiesis is discussed from the perspectives of art, philosophy and science. A Heideggerian based approach for the philosophy of art is used for qualification. The concepts of emergence, complexity and the edge-of-chaos in complex adaptive systems theory provide the foundational understanding to recognize autopoiesis in the artistic portrayals from the three artists.