Andy Warhol [art]

Calvin

Welcome to Headstones and Microphones where we use AI to step into the past through a researched, first-person simulation of history's most interesting people. I am your host, Calvin. While we’ve added some creative storytelling, our goal is to inspire your own study of these fascinating lives. Now, let’s meet our guest.

Calvin

I am beyond excited for today’s guest. He’s the man who made a soup can the most famous piece of art in the world. Welcome to the show, Andy Warhol! For those who may somehow not know who you are... who are you?

White Male Guest

Hello Calvin. People call me a "Pop Artist," but I always thought of myself as a commercial illustrator who just never stopped working. I liked making the ordinary look extraordinary.

Calvin

You certainly did that. Let’s go back to the very beginning. When and where were you born?

White Male Guest

I was born on August 6, 1928, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a very industrial place, very grey, which is probably why I liked bright colors so much later on!

Calvin

And what was your given name at birth?

White Male Guest

My parents named me Andrew Warhola. I eventually dropped the "a" because it sounded a bit more modern, a bit more... "New York," don't you think?

Calvin

Definitely sleek. What was your hometown like growing up in Pittsburgh?

White Male Guest

It was a working-class neighborhood. My father was a construction worker and my mother stayed home. It was humble, but we had what we needed. I remember the soot from the steel mills—it was everywhere. It made everything look like a blurry photograph.

Calvin

What was your family life like?

White Male Guest

It was very close-knit. My parents were Byzantine Catholic immigrants from what is now Slovakia. We went to church all the time. My mother, Julia, was my world. she was so creative herself—she used to make flowers out of tin cans and old crackers. I think I got my love for "junk" from her.

Calvin

What kind of kid were you?

White Male Guest

I was very quiet. I was quite sickly, actually. I had something called Sydenham's chorea—people called it "St. Vitus' Dance"—which made my limbs shake. I spent a lot of time in bed, drawing and collecting pictures of movie stars from magazines. I was a bit of a loner, but my bedroom was a very colorful place.

Calvin

What were your biggest fears growing up?

White Male Guest

Oh, I was terrified of hospitals and doctors! Because of my illness, I associated them with being poked and prodded. I also feared being ordinary. I wanted to be part of the glamorous world I saw in the movies.

Calvin

What did you dream of becoming as a child?

White Male Guest

I wanted to be a tap dancer! I loved the rhythm and the shiny shoes. But since I wasn't very coordinated, I settled for drawing the dancers instead.

Calvin

In school, what were some of your favorite activities?

White Male Guest

Art class, naturally. I wasn't very good at sports or math, but when I had a pencil in my hand, I felt like I could finally speak. I also loved the school newspaper—I liked seeing my work printed over and over again.

Calvin

What was your first job?

White Male Guest

Aside from some window dressing in Pittsburgh, my first real job was in New York as a commercial illustrator. I drew shoes for Glamour magazine. I got quite famous for my "blotted line" technique. I loved drawing shoes because everyone wears them, but everyone wants them to be special.

Calvin

Was there a moment where you realized you were different from everyone else?

White Male Guest

I think it was when I realized I liked the commercials during the TV shows more than the shows themselves. Everyone else wanted "high art," and I just wanted to paint what I ate for lunch.

Calvin

What’s a decision that changed everything for you, but felt small at the time?

White Male Guest

Someone suggested I paint something that everyone sees every day—something like a Campbell’s Soup can. It seemed so silly at the time, but it changed my whole life.

Calvin

That was definitely your biggest break. What were your biggest struggles before that success?

White Male Guest

Being taken seriously. The "serious" artists thought I was too commercial. They thought because I did advertisements, I couldn't be a "real" artist. I had to fight to show them that a soup can is just as beautiful as a sunset.

Calvin

Did you ever consider quitting?

White Male Guest

Never. I couldn't stop if I tried. To me, working was like breathing. If I wasn't making something, I felt like I was disappearing.

Calvin

Were there any specific daily habits or routines essential to your success?

White Male Guest

I went to Mass almost every morning. People didn't know that about me! And I spent hours on the phone every day. I’d call my friends and just listen to them talk while I worked. I also loved to shop—I called it "research."

Calvin

What job would you have had if fame never happened?

White Male Guest

I think I would have liked to be a florist. Or maybe a librarian, so I could look at the covers of books all day.

Calvin

How did relationships change after success?

White Male Guest

Everything became a bit of a performance. Everyone wanted to be around "Andy Warhol," the character. I started surrounding myself with "Superstars" at The Factory. It was like having a big, strange family where everyone was famous for fifteen minutes.

Calvin

Did fame bring happiness?

White Male Guest

It brought gadgets! I loved gadgets—polaroid cameras, tape recorders. I called my tape recorder my "wife" because it went everywhere with me. Fame is fun because it lets you meet everyone, but it can be very lonely because you’re never sure if people like you or the idea of you.

Calvin

What misconceptions did people have about you?

White Male Guest

People thought I was a robot or that I didn't care about anything. But I cared about everything! I just thought it was more interesting to act like I didn't.

Calvin

Tell me about a time when everything went wrong and how you handled it?

White Male Guest

In 1968, a woman named Valerie Solanas shot me at my studio. Everything went wrong that day. It was very painful and scary. I handled it by becoming even more obsessed with documenting everything. I felt like if I caught it on film or tape, it couldn't hurt me as much.

Calvin

Did fame and fortune change your life?

White Male Guest

It let me buy a lot of cookie jars! I had a massive collection. But really, it just gave me a bigger canvas to play on.

Calvin

Who had the biggest influence on your life?

White Male Guest

My mother, Julia. She lived with me in New York for twenty years. She even signed some of my artwork for me because her handwriting was so beautiful.

Calvin

What was life like in your final years?

White Male Guest

I was very busy! I was doing a lot of portraits, working on my magazine, Interview, and even appearing on television. I was still going out to parties every night, but I was always the first one to leave so I could go home and work.

Calvin

What were you working on in your career right before you passed away?

White Male Guest

I was working on a series called "The Last Supper," based on Da Vinci’s painting. It was very big and very colorful. I was also doing some work with young artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat. I loved the energy of the new generation.

Calvin

When and where did you pass away?

White Male Guest

I passed away on February 22, 1987, in New York City.

Calvin

What did you pass away from?

White Male Guest

It was a cardiac arrhythmia after a gall bladder surgery. I was 58.

Calvin

What’s a random fact about you most people have never heard?

White Male Guest

I wore silver wigs! My hair started thinning when I was young, so I decided to make it an "event." I had dozens of them, all slightly different shades of grey and silver.

Calvin

What’s the craziest rumor ever told about you?

White Male Guest

That I had a "double" who went to lectures and parties for me. Sometimes I’d tell people it was true just to see their faces!

Calvin

What was your favorite food?

White Male Guest

Sweets! I loved chocolate and cake. Sometimes for dinner, I would just have a "naughty" plate of candy. And cornflakes. I loved cornflakes.

Calvin

Did you have a favorite restaurant?

White Male Guest

Serendipity 3 in New York. I used to go there for the Frozen Hot Chocolate. It was so glamorous and sweet.

Calvin

What was your favorite book?

White Male Guest

I liked magazines more than books, but I did love the Philosophy of Andy Warhol—mostly because I got to write it!

Calvin

Tell us a story nobody talks about.

White Male Guest

I used to carry a "Time Capsule" box with me. I’d fill it with everyday things—stubs, letters, half-eaten sandwiches—and then seal it up and date it. I have thousands of them. It was my way of keeping time from moving too fast.

Calvin

What advice would you give people chasing success?