Andy Warhol, born 6 August 1928, died 22 February 1987. He was an American artist who was also a great figure in visual art movement. Warhol graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology before moving to New York. His first big break was in August 1949 when he was asked to illustrate an article in Glamour Magazine. He dropped the 'a' at the end of his name when the credits read "Drawings by Andrew Warhol". Warhol was also famous for painting Campbells and Watties soup cans. He painted about 300 different paintings. He originally worked as a commercial artist. He designed things like advertisements and window displays for stores. He soon became famous as an artist in the Pop Art movement, in which everyday objects and media images were used. One of his most famous paintings is his colourful portrait of Marilyn Monroe.
What I am very interested in are not his paintings but his time capsules that perfectly link to my theme 'Memories'. The Time Capsules are Warhols largest project, in which he saved an enormous record of his own life. He began creating his Time Capsules in 1974. He recognized that cardboard boxes used in the move were an efficient method for dealing with all of his problems. From the early ’70s until his death in 1987, Warhol created 612 finished Time Capsules.
In my view his work is very interesting as well as meaningful especially to him as these objects, eventually present him as a person, of who he really is and what interests him. In his works I can see a lot of tickets, postcards, drawings, photographs of Marilyn Manroe in particular, writings and newspapers. This work reminds me quite a lot of Audrey Flack works, who displays her objects and then paints/photograph's them. What interests me the most in his works is the organisation of the boxes he had to go through, the naming, dateing the boxes etc, and also the idea of leaving things behind him in a form of object kept in a box also seemed entertaining. I like organisation, when everything seems to perfect, in order, organised and clear, therefore his idea of keeping memories in a box, leaving them behind and moving on is very interesting, as I am someone who loves to do things well and fast so that they could be left behind, only so that I could move on, therefore I love the idea of keeping things behind in a form of cardboard box. On the other hand, what is really annoying is the curiosity I get as a viewer, of what is inside those boxes. Obviously because they are hidden so well in those boxes as they have been taped up all over, it emphasises that Warhol was very secretive about his life, also emphasising how he wanted to keep his problems safe and away from him as far as possible. Therefore I'm guessing he never wanted anyone to look inside them, which creates curiosity in the viewer of what is inside. What is he trying to hide and why was it so essential to him. This small research and analysis have shown me different ways of presenting the idea of memories, Warhole showed me that memories could be very personal, very hidden, problems could locked up and forgotten in a form of an object kept in a box. Collecting actual objects not only photography can be very useful when it comes to forgeting, which is very inspiring in terms of my theme Memories. If I had the chance to ask the artist any question, I would ask him what has inspired him to start collecting all these objects and keeping them in all seperate boxes? What was the inspiration behind it all? I think the work is relevant to my project as he collects 'Memories', in a form of an object, which make it more likely to the person to remember that particular time and movement of when the object has been used. If I was to give title to this work (the one above) I would give it the title of 'media believers' as the whole box is filled with newspapers only. I would like to compare this work to Audrey Flack. Flack has a different way of presenting the idea of memories. They are more open and presentable, they are colorful, messy yet, because everything is so clear, that means that this mess was arranged by Flack. In comparison to Warhol, who hides all his objects in a box, probably doesn't arrange them inside as that wouldn't make any sense. However, he does arrange them in a way, because he puts them in different boxes, based on different days. Therefore they are organised, yet in a different way from Flack's.
The elements I think are most successful in Warhol works are the meaning he tries to convey, with a successful technical support. The element I don't think is successful however, is the fact thathe kept them locked up in a box away from the world. Visually unaccessable to the viewer. However, it has its menaingful advantages of keeping essential memories to yourself, yet when you're an artist in my view it should be spread and shown. Eva my peer, has said ''it's very personal and interesting as these objects are a snapshot of time, allowing the viewer to realise or imagine what he did in his life'. I personally agree with what she said as it is all true. I think what is particularly worth remembering is the meaning he tries to convey that perfectly links to my theme of 'memories', as well as the technique which could be used at the begining of my project as a starting point and inspiration.
Response:Just the other day I was exploring with my peers what a memory can represent, and to whom. We had a task thanks to which we had to understand that objects may look like just a simple object to us and others, yet in fact it may carry a huge story behind them, becoming very personal, different and increadibly meaningful. Therefore each of us was given a different file filled with objects, from which we had to analyse, to what kind of a person they would suit.The objects that I got were: spotted spoon, pink and creme nail polish, make-up, soft heart, a fake little rose, mirror, pearls and a mascara. When I first saw these objects, it was clear that they were very feminine, unless if those objects belonged to a transvestite. Some of thoe objects have also evoked some of my own memories, such as the nail polish, which reminds me how I always paint my nails with my best friend creating shapes and patters. Other make-up accessories also remind me of mine, I also use a mascara and other make-up that was included in the file. The reason why my responses link to Warhol's work are to the random objects I had on me on a regular day, that eventually present many different memories, which thanks to those objects I remember.
Those objects, in my opinion belong to a young woman who cares of her looks, perhaps a bit of vain woman. Hovewer, these seem to be guite old fashioned, I'm specifically talking about the pearls, this changes my view from a young to a middle aged woman. If I had to create a story which narrates these objects, I would say that I can imagine this woman being very attractive to men as she obviously cares for her looks, based on the amount of make-up. Very girly and pinky. Probably doesn't have children yet, but dreams of having one in future.
When this task ended, our next task was to take out on a table everything we had in our bags and pockets. There were moments when I was shocked that I still have those objects. My objects were: movie tickets, gallery tickets, starbucks sugar ad coffee, boost, megadeth oyster holder with an oyster inside and concert ticket, other tickets given out during the concert, school ID, mirror, a letter and keys. All these objects are shown on the image above. Later on our job was to take pictures of those objects, and then begin to draw them. This task was purposed to see if random objects in our bags or pockets can identify us. In this case my objects have identified me perfectly, not fully, but perfectly. Such as coffee, which I drink almost everyday making people think that I'm addicted, even though I'm not. Megadeth concert ticket shows what kind of music I listen to which is rock or classic rock, and shows that I love going to concerts. Mirror shows that I take care of myself. Movie and gallery tickets show that I'm outgoing.. eventually. Boost, that I love sweets. And a letter showing that I have someone very special in my life. Therefore this task was also completed in full. Images below show my two quick drawings of these objects. This task has shown me that it does not really matter what objects you display, as long as they are your's and personal, they will represent who you really are, or perhaps what memories you had and with whom.
Audrey Flack was born 1931 in New York is an American artist best known for her photorealist paintings and sculptures. Born to a middle class family, she attended the Music and Art High School in New York City before going on to graduate from Cooper Union in 1951. Her work relates to the previous artist I researched Andy Warhol as she also collects objects that are meaningful to her and either paints or photographs them. However she doesn't keep them in boxes, in comparison to Warhol she displays them and presents in a form of a painting/photography. What is very characteritic about her work is the colour vibrance she uses in her paintings/photographs, that were inspired by the pastel colour vibrance, naturally these objects wouldn't be as bright as they are shown in these images, therefore she purposely enhances them through the use of either very bright paint, or in case of a photograph a computer programme such as photoshop. Personally I love the way she has composed the colours and the objects, the way everything is organised so that all the objects are visually acceptable to the viewer, the way the book of Marilyn Monroe is placed wide open to the viewer, the way the objects such as rose, green/red paints are placed on top of it all and in front. All is visually accaptable to the viewer and easy to see or notice. She also quite often uses the character of Marilyn Monroe in her works, her photographs, drawings and paintings, which links to Warhole who used her images in his works as well. Certain boxes of his have already been opened up, images of Marilyn Monroe have been found in most of them.
Response:
As a response to Audrey Flack's research I had a multiple task, in which first one was to record ourselves, speaking about our boxes, and objects that we have collected that were inside those boxes. It was a quite stressful task as we had to talk to the camera, however when I saw my friend Johnny Turner doing it so calmly, it gave me more strength to do it. In that video I mentioned what is the purpose of the box, I have also mentioned few things that were inside the box, not all obvoiusly as it would take more than just the few minutes. I have also explained what will be next steps to do with those objects.Furthermore, our next task was to take our objects, place them in a box or on a black background, in purpose of responding to Audrey Flack's work and the meaning of her work. Therefore, I took a large box, placed a black piece of material on it and started to compose all my objects that I have collected over the summer, as they present my memories, which was what her work all about. Our last task that we have not completed fully as there was no time, in which case we will continue next lesson, was to draw from out presented objects (in form of Audrey Flack's work). It was not hard to draw from it as we took photographs of it in the first place, and printed them off later on, and that is what we drew from. Yet what we had to focus on while drawing from the photographs was the tones and colours, each time a tone or colour has changed, we had to divide it all by the use of line, which will be very useful later on during the next lesson as we will paint over it. This response links to Andy Warhol's work in terms of the object use. Similarly to Warhol, I collected objects throughout the summer and kept them in a box. After when we moved on to Audrey Flack, I have decided to use those objects from Warhol's response to create another relating to Flack's work.
