Andy Warhol
In the Mind of Great Artists
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“In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”
Andy Warhol
In the information and media era, everything is about speed, vertigo. Everything is within reach in a matter of seconds.
The great lesson is that may be what arrives fast, leaves faster.
Andy Warhol expressed the idea that we all would be famous for 15 minutes. He may have said it in 1968; the phrase appeared in a brochure presenting one of his exhibitions in Stockholm. And the future that phrase referred to, is here.
May be Warhol did not say that, or the phrase was not exactly like that. A photographer who worked with him, named Nat Finkelstein, has told this version: in a photo shoot with the artist, people in the place wanted to be taken a photo with Warhol, and the artist said that everyone wanted to be famous. The photographer replied: “¡Yeah, for fifteen minutes, Andy!”
Whether the phrase belongs to Warhol or not is not very important. Who said it is not as important as the truth it reveals.
Art represents the spirit of the time, Warhol and pop represented the spirit of a time in which ad bombardment and consumption incitement were constant. Consumption of banal, cheap things manufactured in series, consumption of ideas, leaders, celebrities.
It was a time when consumption and the need of being accepted hid the human existential anguish and uncertainty. Being famous was important, you were worthless unless you were recognized by others. It is surprising that due to social media and technology everybody has a chance of being famous at any time.
Ultimately, that fame is also a cheap and batch manufactured product, to consume on-the-go and with an instant due date.
Recommended links:
F-111, the Huge Pop Art Painting of James Rosenquist.
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