From Van Gogh to Lord of the Rings: Algorithms decode legendary 'hot streaks'

Ever heard of the paintings The Potato Eaters, Bulb Fields and Lying Cow?

Vincent Van Gogh’s repertoireholds a mystery.

His artwork before and after that duration were never really as worthy of the spotlight.

Their findingsappearedMonday in the journal Nature Communications.

They might’ve actually uncovered a formula: “exploration,” then “exploitation.”

“Hot streaks kind of dominate the main impact of a career,” Wang said.

“Often, the career-defining work was produced during the hot streak.”

Van Gogh isn’t the only prominent example of the phenomenon.

Jackson Pollock is famous for his drip period between 1947 and 1950.

Thank you, hot streak, for helping give life to Smeagol.

“You feel like it’s magic.

It just happens somewhere in your career, but that’s deeply unsatisfying,” Wang said.

“The contribution of this paper is to show that it’s not all magic.”

Altogether, they studied thousands of hot streak incidences.

Jackson’s movies leaned into contrasting directions of genre and cast choice.

But during their streaks, each career focused on what suited the creator best.

“For the longest time, I felt like this was just a wish.

That what I said to them is the same as good luck.

But I think now – at least in my mind – this is going beyond just good luck.”