This has nothing to do with the subject of this particular post except for the fact that I was trying to remember if I had seen anyone who reminded me impeccably of Andy Warhol, and I remembered that particular time with Mr. Ginsberg.
Today in philosophy class, we had a discussion of art and aesthetics. We were to look at some images and read an exerpt from some humanities and the arts book.
The class was being quiet, as usual. I believe the clock started ticking with a question about what makes art, art. Someone said an answer of which was not very noteworthy. I believe it was attesting to the truth that everything is art. A statement like that will not get this stale class talking. Therefore I interjected, "I believe good art should produce emotion, not like Andy Warhol's silk screened campbell soup cans and dollar bills..."
Oh was that the spark to set the forest on fire. I am not certain of all the words that were exchanged between Professor West and myself, but I do know that I left the impression that I had no respect for Andy Warhol (whose real last name is Warhola, thank you very much).
I wish to expand upon my thoughts of Andy Warhol.
I once wrote a twelve page biography on the aforementioned artist. I remember trying to decide if I wanted to title the paper "Andy Warhol: Genius or Con-artist?" or " Andy Warhol: The Machine." The later of which was chosen. I did not consult my paper before writing this weblog so everything I am saying is from my elephant-esque memory. I remember reading in one of the many books I retrieved from the library that Andy Warhol wanted to for art what golden arches do for Mcdonald's. They are iconic.
I am well aware of the fact that Andy Warhol's work did not consist solely of silk screen repetitions of campbell soup cans, and I happen to be a firm believer in art. I believe everything is art. Dictionary.com agrees with me (or I suppose I agree with Dictionary.com) when it reads, art is "skill in conducting any human activity: a master at the art of conversation."
I believe the purpose of this post was to say, I do not have to wait until I am older and wiser to appreciate the work of Andy Warhol. I appreciate it now, despite the forest that I burnt down.
"Art is not a subject. It's a way of life. It's the only subject you use from the time you open your eyes in the morning until you close them at night. Everything you look at has art of the lack of art."
-Joseph Fitzpatrick, Andy Warhol's teacher at Carnegie
2 comments:
To be fair to your long suffering philosophy teacher, he can only respond to what you actually say in class and the claim that the Warhol works mentioned here don't produce emotion does smack of the philistine. I think the trick with the soups cans, etc. is that 1) art doesn't have to produce a consistent warm and fuzzy emotion to be evocative (disgust is an emotion, right?) and 2) these kinds of images are designed to evoke emotions in us (Campbell's Soup--warm, wholesome, family, tradition) so what happens when they are completely recontextualized? Will we truly view them for the first time? Is it possible to be manipulated by the image in the same way once we have an idea of what it's doing?
I think Warhol is easily one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Not only is his influence everywhere, but his work is full of enduring ideas--ideas that are especially suited to the image saturated culture in which we find ourselves. He also managed to capture that postmodern aesthetic of the abolition of hierarchy ("high" and "low" art are part of the joke for him) and yet, almost single-handedly, preserve some notion of the worth of "art for art's sake."
I'm not sure that the definition from Dictionary.com of "art" is the one we want to use for this type of endeavor (that definition sounds like the one we use when we describe the "art of public speaking" or the "art of chopping onions") but I do think the work of art is more in intentionality than in whatever is produced (be it an object or sound or movement).
So perhaps regarding my definition it would be akin to using a round key in a square keyhole? It fits but it doesn't work?
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