2 BEHREND BEACON
September 24, 2010
www.thebehrendbeacon.com
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CLAIRE BEVEVINO
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Most people would not consider
urinating on a canvas as a form of
artwork, but that was the reason
Andy Warhol caught our attention,
wasn't it?
Also referred to as "Warhol's Piss
Paintings," the Oxidation paintings
were created when Victor Hugo, Ron
nie Cutrone and Walter Steding,
members of Warhol's infamous Fac
tory, took turns urinating on canvases
coated with wet copper paint, which
would oxidize and turn orange and
green when soaked in urine. This is
just one example of Warhol's outra
geous works. His actions, and his art,
have never fit the societal standard.
He deviated from what the world
viewed as normal, took ordinary ob
jects that we see every day and
turned them into something unusu
ally extraordinary. Most people know
Warhol by his neon colored screen
prints, usually depicting famous ac
tors and actresses. Others know him
for making the Campbell's Soup label
surprisingly famous. HoweVer, these
are just the basics. Mot people gen
erally overlook** the bizarre, fan
tastic piece* ha created, the artwork
that would eventually change the way
we look at pop to e.
Warhol, origialdly born Andrew
Warhola and kaaarn'as the "Prince of
Pop," got"inis start in New York City.
Most ()fhb projects were created in a
downtown. Manhattan loft, famously
known as Elbe Fttetoty." The original
Factory was often referred to by
those who frequented it as the Silver
Factory. It was covered with tin foil,
mirrors, and silver paint, the entire
atmosphere was metallic.
The Factory wasdeorated by
Warhol's friend Bi ll y Istatrie, from
whom Warhol conceived the idea,
and who was also the in-house pho
tographer at The Factory. Warhol
would often bring in silver balloons,
or silver clou4s as thew, were: later
named, to drift abobt the room and
around the ceiling. The silver repre
sented the decadence of the scene, as
well as the seductive feel of the early
sixties. The first years of The Factory
were known as the Silver Era, not
simply in reference to the design, but
because of the carefree lifestyle.
Members of The Factory lived what
they called 'glamorous' lives, consist
ing of money, drugs, parties and
fame.
More important than The Factory
itself, was the artwork that emerged
from this space. When asked about
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Warhol's work, most students
reply that they know him for
his popular screen prints, such
as those of Marilyn Monroe
and Elvis Presley. Others know
him for his artwork involving
Campbell's soup cans, Brillo
pad boxes, and Coca-Cola bot
tles. What most people do not
know is that Warhol created a
vast array of films as well as
artwork. Perhaps these are
disregarded because they were
extremely radical for his, and
even our, generation. His proj
ects certainly stood out among
those of other artists.
John Cale from the Velvet
Underground recalls, "It
wasn't called The Factory for
nothing. It was where the as
sembly line for the silkscreens
happened. While one person
was making a silkscreen,
somebody else would be film
ing a screen test. Every day
something new."
Warhol made it a point to
implant his opinions on main
stream America through his
art, all the while neglecting standard
societal viewpoints. Surprisingly,
Warhol's statement pieces were not
his prints, but his movies. These films
contained nudity, graphic sexuality,
same-sex relations, drug use and
even transgender characters. All of
these themes were considered so
cially obscene for the time, and the
atres that would show his
underground films were often
cleared out and the staff arrested.
_ _
However, some of his most notable
films such eiltSieep, alts, Eat and Em
pire were not of this Vulgar variety.
The fibuti, as well as many others,
contain simple concepts and objects
and are usually very long. In the
movie Empire, Warhol filmedlhe Em
pire State building for approximately
seven hours, barely touching the
camera. "He wanted the machine to
make the art fo r him", his friend Ger
ard Malang* triti said. Although his
lams weumVery lengthy and did not
contain mud"; action, people could
not help butte iruby them. Al
though Warhorcreated , kuo involV
ing some variation ocbiot, the
majority of his followers 70yed*the
beautiful simplicity of his earlier
films.
Also obscure are the screen tests
that Warhol would take of certain
people who would visit The Factory,
and often times become Factory reg
ulars. Warhol surrounded himself
with movie stars, musicians, and
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heiresses, which reflected his obses
sion with fame. Warhol shamelessly
proclaimed, "I love Los Angeles. I
love Hollywood. They're beautiful.
Everybody's plastic, but I love plastic.
I want to be plastic."
The people in these screen tests be
came known as Warhol Superstars,
and they included names such as
Brigid Berlin, Gerard Malanga, Ivy
Nicholson, Ingrid Superstar, Billy
Name, Candy Darling, Nico, and
Edie Sedgwick.
Warhol's works are still popular
today. His prints can be found in a va
riety of fine art museums, but most
notable is the Andy Warhol Museum
in downtown Pittsburgh. Not only
does this museum contain many of
his famous prints, but also a wide va
riety of his movies. There is a floor
dedicated to his personal life, rela
tionships and some, of his earlier
drawings.
Warhol can even be found in
today's pop culture, such as in the re
cent film Factory Girl. Many people
today, as well as those from the 60s,
have found Warhol's work to be of
fensive, crude, bizarre, and simply
put, not an actual form of artwork at
all. But whether you like him or not,
Warhol has made an undeniable, sig
nificant change in the way we see
pop culture today.
As Warhol says, "don't pay any at
tention to what they write about you.
Just measure it in inches."
Findings
This Day In History
•1957: Camp Nou opens in Barcelona
•1968: 60 Minutes is first televised
•1977: The Love Boat is first broadcast
• 1984: Paul McCartney releases "No More
Lonely Nights"
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