Andy Warhol Technologies of Visual Reproduction Andrew Wilkinson 66715187 In 1968, one man predicted that In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes. 1 is prediction proves itself to be eerily accurate to this day, cementing its prophet as a visionary of the 20th century. at man was Andy Warhol, a Pop Artist and cultural icon. Warhol had an artistic career that spanned many years and many distinctive mediums. Dabbling in graphic design, painting, photography and filmmaking, the technologies of visual reproduction were an integral feature of Warhol s works. is commentary aims to explore the way Andy Warhol dealt with the concern of technologies of visual reproduction. In particular, this essay investigates Warhol s common themes of fame and the media, and how he incorporated or conveyed these themes through the use of different visual mediums. 1 Kynaston McShine, Andy Warhol: A Retrospective. (New York: Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1989), p. 460
Warhol has many famous works spanning across distinct mediums, but arguably his most important works were his silkscreens based on photography (in particular the Marilyn Monroe series,) and his revolutionary usage of the popular media as an artistic medium in itself; which he created through his carefully controlled public persona. However, to properly understand Warhol s work, one must examine Popular Art itself and understand the culture of America at the time. Of significance to the rise of Pop Art was the prevalence of mass-media such as television; the influence of which can be no better seen than in the media conscious election campaign for John F. Kennedy. 2 Another significant element of America s culture during the 50s and 60s was consumerism the desire for the mass produced object. e American Dream had become centred around how many commodities citizens could acquire, 3 and in a way, Pop Art was a response to that. Lawrence Alloway, in his famous 1958 article e Arts and the Mass Media, 4 claims that the shift towards a mass-culture took art out of the hands of the elite, giving rise to mass-produced art. With this cultural context in mind, understanding Warhol s choices in technologies of visual reproduction becomes a lot easier. e mass-culture proposed by Alloway and his contemporaries gave rise to Warhol s assembly-line art. Duplicating photographs and other images through silkscreens, Andy Warhol adopted this philosophy of the mass-produced for his studio that he called e Factory. Warhol did not work alone, he had many assistants, as well as machines, to do much of the work for him. 5 2 David McCarthy, Pop Art (London: Tate Gallery Publishing Ltd., 2000) pp. 28-29 3 McCarthy, Pop Art, Ibid. 4 Lawrence Alloway, The Arts and the Mass Media Web Version of Original 1958 Article, accessed 7 Jun 2009, http://www.warholstars.org/warhol/warhol1/andy/warhol/articles/popart/popart.html 5 Judith Goldman, The Pop Image: Prints and Multiples exh.cat (New York: Marlborough Gallery, Inc.,) p. 74
Warhol s usage of the silk screen began in 1962. 6 He made his initial debut with Campbell s Soup Cans (fig.1), which was based on a drawing; however his most famous works are those based on photographs, such as Marilyn Diptych (fig. 2.) Marilyn Diptych, featuring the face of Marilyn Monroe duplicated fifty times, (taken from a publicity photograph in 1953 7 ) is an iconic artwork that was produced shortly after her suicide in 1962. It is widely thought to represent both mortality and the cult of celebrity. 8 It is a unique painting in that it conveys the ideas of fame, the media and death almost entirely through the choice of the medium. Much like the printing presses used by newspapers and magazines, the silkscreen allows endless duplication of the same image. Also, like a printing press, silkscreens work best with high contrast images. 9 Marilyn Diptych is laden with meaning, and extremely open to interpretation. e distressed, faded look of the images on the right could convey the dilution of the meaning of images through repetition, or it could have a more literal explanation; that of the inconsistent quality in images printed in newspapers at the time. It could even represent the way one fades away after death. Lending particular weight to the latter theory is Warhol s famous 15 minutes of fame quote. One dies, and through the replication of their image in the media, is propelled to worldwide fame for a brief period; but the attention span of the public is short, and soon the image of that person fades away and is forgotten about. e images on the left, as a counterpoint to those on the right, have a far more consistent quality, and are in colour, which could be seen to represent fame through life, or Marilyn s movie career. rough the silkscreen medium, the mechanical duplication of the same image in varying levels of colour or quality truly does make one stop to consider fame and the media. 7 Tate Collection, Marilyn Diptych by Andy Warhol, accessed 8 Jun 2009, http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=15976&searchid=12671&tabview=work 8 Tate Collection, Marilyn Diptych by Andy Warhol, accessed 8 Jun 2009, Ibid. 9 Menil Collection, Andy Warhol: Death and Disasters exh.cat, p.11.
Andy Warhol s life and persona reflected his art, and in some ways, his manipulation of the media was another visual medium. His actions in public were a form of performance art in some ways; this can be seen in his coyness in interviews, where he frequently limited his answers to phrases such as uh, yes, and uh, no. 10 is controlled interaction with the media was a defining characteristic of Warhol s life. Much as he controlled the other mediums which he worked with, Andy treated his public persona with the same level of attention. Little is known about the true private life of Andy Warhol, (other than what has been gleaned from diaries and accounts from close friends) although many authors, such as Wayne Koestenbaum, have tried to analyze his life. Henry Geldzahler wrote that Andy was Pop, and Pop was Andy, a reflection of his presence in popular culture at the time. 11 Indeed, Andy Warhol, through the media, became a form of his own art, in that his carefully cultivated persona became duplicated through the lens of television, and the mass printed images of the newspaper. As we have seen through his Factory years, he was well known for having others do the actual work for him, while retaining creative direction. Ultimately, his media manipulation was another form of visual reproduction; where through his self-created fame, he reproduced his own image on a mass scale. It is a reflection of Warhol s tendency to delegate work to others that the reproduction of his image was performed not by himself, but by the papers and television. Mark Lancaster, in his essay Andy Warhol Remembered, points out that by the time of Warhol s death, he was so ubiquitous that the presence of his image in TV news headlines made the viewer know what had happened before the news itself was read. A photograph of Andy Warhol appeared as the last 'headline' of the BBC1 news at 6.25p.m. On Sunday 23rd February 1987. e power of this image ironically made us know that Andy Warhol was dead a split-second before a voice said so. 12 10 Andy Warhol - Recorded Interview Unknown Origin, [Video,] (1964), accessed 2 Jun 2009, http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn6se0kcpai 11 Goldman, The Pop Image: Prints and Multiples exh.cat, p. 74 12 Mark Lancaster, Andy Warhol Remembered, The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 131, No. 1032 (Mar., 1989), pp. 198-202
Andy Warhol s keen usage of mediums that are designed for mass reproduction was key in the development of Pop Art. From the musings on fame in Marilyn Diptych, to his own, mediacultivated image; both were reproducible en masse. Ironically, Andy Warhol, a man who fantasized about simply vanishing upon death, 13 a man who expressed so much desire to become a machine, 14 became immortalized through the media. Andy Warhol s choice of visual technologies ultimately allowed him to convey the ideas of fame and repetition through literal example. Warhol even turned his life as a whole into a musing on fame, mass-production and the culture of 20th century America. In the end, it is ironic that the very man who coined the phrase 15 minutes of fame, received so much more than his share. 13 Menil Collection, Andy Warhol: Death and Disasters exh.cat, p.17. 14 Crone, Andy Warhol, p. 53
Images Referenced Fig. 1. Andy Warhol Campbell s Soup Cans 1962 Synthetic Polymer Paint on Canvas 50.8 cm x 40.6cm each. Museum of Modern Art, New York
Fig. 2. Andy Warhol Marilyn Diptych 1962 Synthetic Polymer Paint on Canvas 2054cm x 1448cm Tate Gallery, London
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