1. How is Warhol able to turn in “off” and based upon the article does he not care about the work?

Andy seems to have a very interesting perspective on himself, his life, and his work. I think it’s incredibly unfair to say that he doesn’t care about his work. Regardless of the way he thinks about things, he says himself that he enjoys creating his work and repeatedly speaks about the works he’d like to make about the things that interest him (in some manner or another). If anything, it seems like Andy just seems to avoid thinking too hard or skeptically about anything. He doesn’t overthink his work or projects, he just kind of goes with whatever comes to him. He describes his perspective on work as “having nothing to lose.” I don’t think he means that his work or what he gets from it is empty or without value, but rather that he doesn’t have anything to lose from simply creating. He doesn’t over think his reputation or the meaning behind a piece of art or how everyone will regard it and what hit scene will want to worship it. He just makes what he finds interesting.

2. Why is the article relevant to the last project?

Because sometimes, it’s better to just get started with the work than to sit back and try to think it all out ahead of time.  When you’re taking 100 different images and trying to find something good, the only way you’re going to succeed is to jump straight in without fear of failure. The worst failure would be not making anything at all.

Personal Reflection

1. Do you become self-conscious of your ideas?

I do. Like many people, I’m pretty critical of myself and my thoughts, and I tend to question how good my idea sounds in my head vs how good it will look on paper. But at the same time, I don’t just sabotage my ideas. I really question them and try to pull something productive out of that. The real concern is just spending too much time in the idea phase and never really moving on to the trial and error phase.

2. What do you think of the nothing-to-lose attitude? What are it’s pros and cons?

I think it’s an important philosophy to keep in mind, especially with where we are at now as college students. There should never be a fear of creating right now, because now is the time in our lives where nothing we make is going to define us, our reputations, or our careers. It’s just not. Now is the time to experiment, practice, and get our hands dirty with out wasting time worrying about whether or not an idea is good or bad. Ultimately, the best way to figure out if it’s a good or bad idea is to just try it out. When you do that, even if it’s bad, you still get experience and perspective out of that. It’s not a meaningless ordeal.

At the same time, I think it’s important to still take your endeavors seriously. We can’t treat our projects like little league competitions where everyone gets a participation trophy anyways. Have a little investment in what you make. Be invested enough to know what you’re doing and why, but not so much that you paralyze yourself and lose out on the opportunity to learn from mistakes.