Music. We’ve listen to the beats and rhythms of songs. Sometimes they become earworms or slowly disappear from our memory. What about the lyrics? Do they stay in our heads? Yes and no. But do we really KNOW the lyrics – know what they’re trying to say, what they mean? Take Coldplay’s Politik as an example. What do you think those lyrics mean? I know that at first glance I was confused. I didn’t know what it was about. I only knew when I read album. This is how I felt when I saw some of Andy Warhol’s works. I only realized some things after being reminded of the words, “social critic,” “hypocrisy,” and “community.”
Honestly, I can’t describe Andy Warhol as a hypocrite because he was just exposing the world of the rich and famous. And, in order for him to do that, he had to live like they did. You can say that he was acting like an anthropologist by taking part in their rituals and lifestyles, understanding their morals and actions. If you want to understand a culture, you have to understand their reasons for their lifestyles. You can’t just stand and watch a society live and think you can understand their actions as an outsider. You need to become immersed albeit detached at the same time. So, rather than saying Andy Warhol’s works are hypocritical of his lifestyle, I would say that it’s paradoxical. He wanted to show the world their lifestyles and he can’t do that standing outside clubs.
As for being an active part of his community, I believe that Andy Warhol is more than that – he exposed another world to the world. He showed us how they really lived. The lifestyles of the rich and famous are no different than our own. Maybe Warhol is trying to show us the extravagantness of life and how we can live and waste life simultaneously. Or maybe Andy Warhol is trying to go even deeper than that.
Although Andy Warhol was religious, I felt differently when I saw his artwork, The Last Supper (Be Somebody With a Body). It spoke volumes. I thought, at first, that it was telling us that we should have our own values and morals that pertain to our society today instead of keeping old ones. But, in reality, Friedrich Nietzsche’s words, “God is dead,” was raging in my head. I remembered how “God is dead” because of our actions, i.e., our lifestyles. Our morals and ethics have “killed” the god. The slow decay we have fallen into is shown through Andy Warhol’s work. We need to become “somebody with a body.” We cannot live on religion alone. We have to regain our mortality and sight to see that we have to start living differently. Whatever pertains to the past, does not always relate to us – it has to change. Thus, I believe that Andy Warhol is trying to tell us that our view on any religion has to change. This, to me, is his way of criticizing the religious worlds.
But how do we find the message(s) Andy Warhol is trying to get across? Well, if you can somehow telephone the dead, then yes, you can ask him. The problem is that, if it was possible to contact the dead, he might not have the answer. We have to dig through on our own. The artist’s works make us think, see, and know the truth. They, most probably, have the answers to life’s questions. Or not. But they will have an opinion about it. Their thoughts and views do not necessarily have to be imposed on us, the viewer. We can see artwork and not be affected in any way or see them and be affected. Everything depends on how the artist portrays the truth and on the viewers and the world.
How does it happen? Well, the world affects the artists, but Andy Warhol affects the worlds of society. We may not fully see or understand his works, but there are others who will understand.
Oh! I thought this was interesting: http://blogs.artinfo.com/16miles/2010/06/18/andy-warhol-david-salle-fan/
I found it while I was researching the title for The Last Supper because I knew I was missing another part of the title.
I really like how you began your blog using the connection to Coldplay. I also really like how you compared Andy Warhol to being an anthropologist. I agree with your opinion here, in order for him to accurately describe and criticize the extravagance in society he needed to become a part of it.
I was thinking of The Little Foxes when I used Coldplay because they played Radiohead’s House of Cards when Regina and Horace were arguing upstairs. Thanks!