Econoblog

Never has one man done so much for so cheap.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

The ongoing relevance of Warhol & McKenna

I have been fascinating on a couple things lately, namely the business of art and Timewave Zero, although not for entirely connected reasons.

I've sort of dismissed Andy Warhol as insincere for most of my observant life, and I may have given him short shrift. Irony is supposedly dying in this country and I'm almost relieved. An ironic approach to Warhol is basically taking everything he's ever said and appending "...and it all means nothing, ha ha ha!" to the end of it, which is kind of smug and presumptuous. Art is a business and business is an art, and that's as non-ironically true as what Keats had to say about truth and beauty.

What intrigues me most about Warhol is his fixation on the "product". I have always liked the word Product, it implies successful creative accomplishment. A true Product must succeed not only in the theoretical esoteric criteria of Art but also in the tangible world of the marketplace. Don't just make a Statement, make a Statement that makes Money. Warhol proves that it's not only possible, but perhaps essential, to play both sides off the other and make a profit from the game.

Of course, the flotsam of Artistic Statements is perhaps dauntingly thick these days...it's hard to see a niche to fill, and that's where the late author Terence McKenna and novelty theory come into play insofar as what's occupying my mind presently. Novelty theory, for those not savvy, essentially suggests that novelty, as a quantitative Thing, ebbs and flows throughout the history of human events and is careening exponentially towards a singularity of complexity, in which every concieveable Product of the human mind suddenly exists. This moment he dubbed Timewave Zero and mapped out a projected timeline based on a fractal derived from the I Ching. It's supposed to coincide with the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012. (The excellent online comic Goats has humorously and ingeniously incorporated this into a long-running plotline over the last year or so)

So, here we are, slouching towards Infinity.

And the question I have, as an Artist and Entrepeneur, is; do I get a running start on this so as to ride the crest of the wave or do I sit back and let the chaos come to entertain me?

I hold that it is more virtuous to Produce than to Consume, and therefore had best learn how to surf, metaphysically. On the other hand, McKenna concieved of all that stuff while thoroughly blasted on psilocybin mushrooms, so perhaps this'll all be just another cosmic joke for our grandchildren, like Nostradamus. Either way, it's as good as an excuse as any to embark on at least six solid years of productivity, fame, and empire-building.

Also, it's roundabout Christmastime, so come on come on and buy me stuff:

My Amazon.com Wish List

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