Time slows down for me at night when at the in between point of the two days. During this time I’ll often reflect upon the previous day and either stress or become excited about the following day. It is hard to tell when time is passing because nothing changes outside. While staring at the window or lying down looking up at the ceiling, I’ll think to myself: How is this current moment different from this same moment in 10 years, what separates the two? At night sometimes I see my life or my perceived future laid out blankly in front of me and it scares me. Time standing still allows my mind to drift to a place of contemplation in which I am away from any other presence and can think freely and honestly
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol studied commercial arts in college and then worked as commercial artist and illustrator in New York City. In the 1950’s he changed his name from Warhola to Warhol to make a serious name for himself as an artist. He found much success in commercial and ad illustration working for magazines such as vogue, and went on to become a leader in the 1960’s pop art movement. Warhol took advantage of the consumer goods market and flooded it with advertisement images that were distinguishable but also simple enough to be visually pleasing. He is largely credited with starting the style of art that portrayed consumer goods in a new and exciting light which also led to criticism.
He created around 600 films, the longest being up to 24 hours and the shortest being only a few minutes. During his later years he was very prolific with much more resources allocated to him than before, and created paintings, abstractions, and oxidations with his own unique methods. As an artist, he was extremely versatile, passionate, and prolific. Warhol was serious about being a successful artist since his youth, which serves as a perfect example for how young artists should pursue their passion and make it a reality. Warhol’s dedication is extremely admirable, and it shows that one must go all in to experience the full benefit when it does begin to pay off.
Andy Warhol’s “Coca-Cola” (1962)
"I just paint things I always thought were beautiful, things you use every day and never think about."
Many times I feel as though the most beautiful things are those we take for granted. While not necessarily true with Andy’s rendition of a Coca-Cola bottle, his quote resonated with me and made me think about my own life and work. Often I will try to create beauty out of very mundane things or purposefully shoot something I feel like won’t turn out good because sometimes there’s one or two photos that look special. It also made me think that some of the best things in life are the simple ones that aren’t missed until they’re not present.
Andy Warhol’s “Rorschcach” (1984)
Andy Warhol did much abstract artwork throughout his life in addition to his more simple pieces. He created a large array of Rorschach paintings which were most likely inspired by the Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach who created the test to measure parts of a person’s unconscious personality. Warhol believed the images that came out of the Rorschach were purely thoughts in visual form. When one attempted to communicate these thoughts the Rorschach images were the result of this idea coming to paper. Warhol’s ability to transfer his thoughts so precisely onto paper inspires me to attempt to do the same in the facet that I choose – perhaps video or photography. Often the piece looks different in my head beforehand, and while the completed project comes out well, it usually isn’t exactly the same thing I had in my head. I’m inspired to attempt to transfer exactly what is in my head to the video timeline.
Oxidation Painting (1978)
This work was done later in Andy’s life during his period of heavy abstraction. It was one of the most prolific times in his life using ever resource he now had available, occasionally including his friends bodily fluids. The method for creating these pieces was to coat canvases with wet copper paint and then urinating on them. The urine oxidizes on the canvas causing it to change into unique colors. Although crude, I admire the ingenuity of these pieces. I think he was trying to convey that beautiful art and experiences can come out of the worst places, the places you think are wasteful and useless or even negative. Instead of letting waste and negativity be pointless, taking it and turning it into something useful proves more wise.
