The Repetition Kills You..

Day 11:

This post relates to "What I have in common with Andy Warhol" and repetition:

"Marilyn Monroe was the embodiment of female glamour. Her wavy blond hair, open smile and full figure were stereotypical components of an American beauty ideal.

Pop artist Andy Warhol, who made works about postwar consumer culture, mass manufacture, and commercial reproduction, worked with an iconic photograph of Marilyn Monroe that was familiar to virtually the entire nation. He printed multiple versions of this same image in a colorful grid.

This print comments not only on the star's iconic status as a glamorous figure but also on the role of the star as media commodity- as a product of the entertainment industry. Marilyn the icon can be infinitely reproduced for mass consumption, thanks to the technologies of photography and commercial printing. Warhol's work emphasizes one of the most important aspects of contemporary imaging technologies.

The multiple images of Monroe emphasize that cultural icons can and must be mass distributed in order for the star herself to have mass appeal."

(From Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture.)

Warhol understood this art of reproduction. He understood that through repetition he could make a statement about commodities, icons and America itself. The image of Marilyn repeated over and over was like giving the entertainment industry a big middle finger, and Warhol knew it.