Much like our social media crazed generation today, Warhol was obsessed with the idea of 24/7 recording. “I think he really anticipated our surveillance society with its reality TV and social media culture,” says Jon Davies, curator of TIFF’s flagship exhibition Andy Warhol: Stars of the Silver Screen.
Different than Andy Warhol Revisited’s exhibit of his well-known pop art collection, Stars of the Silver Screen invites exhibition goers to walk through the muses and memorabilia that fuelled Warhol’s fascination with celebrities.
Like flipping through the endless pages of a scrapbook, watching home videos on repeat, taking photos of everything in sight, …show more content…
“It seems that every facet of his life and art– from his different collections of objects to his relationship with the news headlines of his day– has been explored in exhibitions.”
But like both Carstensen and Davies say, he could see where society was going. “If he knew how we lived today, he would be thrilled,” says Carstensen. “Like us, Warhol attempted to document the world by almost every means possible.”
When the tour comes to an end, TIFF offers a 3 minute screen test, something Warhol did with all of his celebrities. Because how else would one be able to document and share their experience at the exhibit? This is exactly what Warhol dreamed of: a generation of voyeurs obsessed with recording what may seem boring to the blind eye, but appeal to Warhol as art.
So keep Instagramming photos of your fancy food, posting Vines of your crazy kids, and pinning your inspirations on Pinterest. It’s all art, and Andy Warhol would approve.
Like you say Andy, “everyone in the future will be famous for 15 minutes.”
Andy Warhol: Stars of the Silver Screen is on now at TIFF Bell Lightbox inside the HSBC Gallery through January