It seems to me that things in Andy Warhol's world are quite strange. Or at least most people think so, but I found that upon looking at him anew from several different sources recently, I can relate to a lot of his philosophy. Though his thinking comes off at times as quirky, insincere, or ambiguous, I could still relate to a lot of the content at the core of his ideas.
After watching the documentary made about Warhol by Ric Burns, I have some mixed feelings. The strange juxtaposition of sound textures, interviews, archival footage, rereading of Warhol quotes, praise for the artist, etc. seems to take Warhol a little bit out of context for me. Burns' work seems to me to glorify Warhol in an unnecessary fashion. It seems that a lot of the structure and direction of the documentary is orchestrated to make Warhol seem larger than life, but that seems a bit of a contradiction to me. Reading about Warhol and his quotations in the context of his life and even some of the information that I got from the film seem to tell me something different. Despite the ways Warhol seems intentionally misleading or comical, I find that his ideas of leftovers and art as business really make sense to me. I can relate to his feeling misplaced or trying to grapple with his fame. I don't think I could handle some of that attention and I don't like a maid cleaning up after me either. Anyway, a lot of these details reveal to me that Warhol was eccentric and famous, but also a regular person that got put into these positions and categories. I don't think he ever felt like some kind of absolute genius or one of the most influential artists of the 20th century any more than I or my classmates do. This image does not really fit with what many expect of a genius even though we may expect awkwardness and eccentricity to be a part of the formula. We have a lot of evidence to support that he was confused and lost more often than not, and even almost forgotten or ignored while he was still alive. While that does not prevent him from being a genius, it does seem to contradict some of the image that seems to have been constructed by the documentary or perhaps the Warhol foundation on a larger scale.
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Jordan Severson
I feel the same way about the documentary. It made him seem almost god-like. Certainly he was very influential, but he was just a man.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that although Andy Warhol may seem strange and eccentric to others, some of his beliefs and ideas really do make a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that some of the evidence supports that he was confused and lost. However, what I believe is that in this midst of being neglected and lost, Andy Warhol was trying to find himself; he was trying to build a unique and individual personality, which also pulled him towards acting weird at times, such as dying his hair gray just to look different! Nonetheless, though he may have been weird, I believe that his weirdness is what made him so different and successful, as a painter, businessman and whatever else he is known for today!
Was he so strange he had to create his own world to feel at home?
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