The term action painting refers to the fact that this new type of painting:

A. emphasized figures and subject matter in strong action.
B. traced the actions of the painter.
C. actually moved.
D. referred to political issues, calling people to action.
E. depicted simple diagrams of mechanical actions.

B
Action painting describes the work of Pollock and others, for their paintings are not images in a traditional sense but traces of an act, the painter's dance of creation.