Warhol Philosophy

Here's a follow-up post to the one before about my interest in Andy Warhol's book. He is, no doubt, quite a bit of a character. Quirky, cocky, but witty and interesting. The book kept me captivated during lunchbreaks, so-much-so I sometimes found it hard to resume work.


Below are some excerpts from the book, which I have selectively chosen and personally found very amusing :-

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Warhol's take on LOVE

People's fantasies are what give them problems. If you didn't have fantasies you wouldn't have problems because you'd just take whatever was there. But then you wouldn't have romance, because romance is finding your fantasy in people who don't have it. A friend of mine always says, " Woman love me for the man I'm not."

A drag queen I know is waiting for a real man to fall in love with her/him. I always run into strong women who are looking for weak man to dominate them.

You really have to watch what you say to people about their love lives. When people are in love all their problems are in strange proportions and it's hard to know when you're saying the wrong thing.

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Warhol's take on BEAUTY

If a person isn't generally considered beautiful, they can still be a success if they have a few jokes in their pockets. And a lot of pockets.

(also under BEAUTY although discussing about weight and FOOD

I know good cooks who'll spend days finding fresh garlic and fresh basil and fresh tarragon, etc., and then use canned tomatoes for the sauce, saying it doesn't matter. But I know it does matter.

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Section on TIME

People say, "time on my hands." Well, I looked at my hands and I saw a lot of lines.

If the lines on your hands are wrinkles, it must mean your hands worry a lot.

They always say that time changes everything, but you actually have to change them yourself.

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Section on ECONOMICS

I have a fantasy about money: I'm walking down the street and I hear somebody say - in a whisper - "There goes the richest person in the world."

After you PAY SOMEBODY BACK you never run into them anymore. But before that, they're EVERYWHERE.

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Warhol's slight obsession about SPACE

When I look at things, I always see the space they occupy. I always want the space to reappear, to make a comeback, because it's lost space when there's something in it. If I see a chair in a beautiful space, no matter how beautiful the chair is, it can never be as beautiful to me as the plain space.

I've always had a conflict because I'm shy and yet I like to take up a lot of personal space.

Another way to take up more space is with perfume. I really love wearing perfume.

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Warhol's take on ART

I like painting on a square because you don't have to decide whether it should be longer-longer or shorter-shorter or longer-shorter: it's just a square.

I think every painting should be the same size and the same color so they're all interchangeable and nobody thinks they have a better painting or a worse painting. And if the one "master painting" is good, they're all good.