Introduction
The Factory, Andy Warhol’s studio, is history’s most widely recognized and infamous artist workspace. It was the scene of all kinds of depravity night after night, as Warhol worked in the background on his famous screen prints (Howie). The name ‘The Factory’ was indeed created by Warhol’s visitors (Howie).
The volume of screen prints and films regularly produced out of the premises led his never-ending stream of glamorous guests, occasionally the subjects of Warhol’s paintings, to affectionately refer to it as the factory. This name remained (Howie). Thus, despite the celebrations, parties, and other happenings, it was, first and foremost, Warhol’s factory.
Enigma of Warhol’s Factory
Warhol’s artwork and influence are controversial since it is unclear whether what he created is art or a product. According to Shaviro, an artist like Andy Warhol aims to transform the entire universe into images, but instead generates more products. That is at least how Warhol sees it, since he has stated that he believes in empty spaces even though he creates a lot of rubbish as an artist (Shaviro).
Andy Warhol is never an empty image; he compares his art ideas to pimples. An abscess can be removed today, but a new one will appear the next day. There’s already too much out there, and there’s no reason to be enthusiastic about one organ in particular (Shaviro). That is why Warhol preferred style to substance, swish to masculinity, and images to things.
The pimple symbolically represents an artist’s fleshly twin, Warhol’s abject objecthood, which links him to his body or himself. For example, Warhol underlined that he sees something new in the mirror every day and sees something new – a fresh pimple (Shaviro). If the spot on his upper right cheek disappears, a new one appears elsewhere. Nudity is a danger to the artist’s existence, and the pimple is the point at which he is exposed naked for all to see. As a result, blemishes are a person’s most private secrets, yet they are also the first things that others notice.
The artist’s sole idols were movie and media celebrities. Warhol was taught to be a man looking at Elvis Presley, James Dean, and Fidel Castro. For instance, Fidel Castro was a popular media character in the 1960s, but his luster has waned somewhat since then. In truth, the CIA attempted to neutralize him and damage his reputation in the 1960s (Shaviro). Nonetheless, they could never put any of their strange plans into action; however, such plans attest to the potency, as it were, of Fidel’s media image – much like a pimple that will not go away.
Conclusion
Shaviro comments about Warhol’s choices at the end of the reading: style, swish, and images. Warhol’s art is all about fashion and style, with little regard for what lies underneath the surface. For the artist, the world is not inadequate but rather overflowing.
Warlock’s art was intended to convey the message that there is no cause to delve under the surface. Hence, his art falls into images and nothing more than images. According to the artist, nothing could be more cliché than tormented, anguished work that strives to reveal hidden depths. Everything that has significance is already visible on the surface; it is, therefore, critical not to think but to look.
Works Cited
Howie, Lucy. “A Short Guide to Andy Warhol’s Factory.” Myartbroker, Web.
Shaviro, Steven. Doom Patrols: A Theoretical Fiction about Postmodernism. Serpent’s Tail, 1996.