29th Street Ballroom
Doesn't Get Warhol, Respectfully
RECEIVED Fri., Oct. 17, 2003
Andy Warhol was an untalented hack as a "creative artist," but adept at the art of self-promotion. Given the greater success of other self-promoters, I can't understand why Andy Warhol's self-promotion skills make him significant.
He's unable to self-proclaim his celebrity, so now the tawdriness of the artifacts he left behind is all that we have left to ponder.
Because Warhol commercialized his output, and reproduced it in such quantity, the marginal value of a Warhol creation is close to zero. It's basic supply and demand economics: With so many reproductions around, there are more units to be sold than there are buyers.
The notion of an "original work" with Warhol's output is meaningless. He had a factory where he churned out as many copies as there were suckers lining up to buy.
Gore Vidal called Warhol the only "genius" with an IQ of 60. If you attempt to watch any of Warhol's films or read any of his personal notes and comments, it's easy to believe that Warhol had a nearly room temperature IQ.
Al Capp commented on Warhol through his comic strip Li'l Abner, that abstract art was "A product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered." That could have been directed specifically at Andy Warhol. He said himself that his work was all surface, lacking depth, and that he was not trying to say anything profound or significant with his output. Talented kids usually create artistic output superior to what Mr. Warhol generated.
Perhaps it's time to toss Andy Warhol's output into the trash can of history. He probably would have wanted that: recycling trash as performance art, now that the trash producer is gone.
He's unable to self-proclaim his celebrity, so now the tawdriness of the artifacts he left behind is all that we have left to ponder.
Because Warhol commercialized his output, and reproduced it in such quantity, the marginal value of a Warhol creation is close to zero. It's basic supply and demand economics: With so many reproductions around, there are more units to be sold than there are buyers.
The notion of an "original work" with Warhol's output is meaningless. He had a factory where he churned out as many copies as there were suckers lining up to buy.
Gore Vidal called Warhol the only "genius" with an IQ of 60. If you attempt to watch any of Warhol's films or read any of his personal notes and comments, it's easy to believe that Warhol had a nearly room temperature IQ.
Al Capp commented on Warhol through his comic strip Li'l Abner, that abstract art was "A product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered." That could have been directed specifically at Andy Warhol. He said himself that his work was all surface, lacking depth, and that he was not trying to say anything profound or significant with his output. Talented kids usually create artistic output superior to what Mr. Warhol generated.
Perhaps it's time to toss Andy Warhol's output into the trash can of history. He probably would have wanted that: recycling trash as performance art, now that the trash producer is gone.
Respectfully,
Brian Lynch
Brian Lynch