Material Culture and Everyday Life is a section of Theories
& Documents of Contemporary Art that is enlivened by the wacky
quotations of Andy Warhol. I’ve always had the hunch that Andy Warhol’s
intention was to be the art instead of merely make it. His words, actions and
quirks all fall into one mass of “Andy Warhol-esque” material. Even his facial
expression when photographed next to Invisible Sculpture in 1985 lends itself to the “piece.” A basic thought
he expressed that sums up his work is, “All my films are artificial, but then
everything is sort of artificial. I don’t know where the artificial stops and
the real starts” (344).
What Warhol says
that moves me the most and what I understand and agree with the most is, “…I
always suspected I was watching TV instead of living life. People sometimes say
the way things happen in movies is unreal, but actually it’s the way things
happen to you in life that’s unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong
and real, whereas when things happen to you, it’s like watching television—you
don’t feel anything…” (345). For a period of time in middle and high school I
avoided watching TV at all costs. I have a strong opinion that movies teach
people how to act, react, and essentially this breeds reenactment in our lives
that is false. I watch reality TV now and get a kick out of everyone who thinks
that reality TV is disgusting, awful TV. Reality TV is pure entertainment of
things happening in real time. It’s funny. It’s movies that are the problem
because people reference what actors have done when something happens in real
life that they don’t know how to handle. Entire relationships can function
solely on scenes from romantic comedies; I’ve seen it happen.
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