Andy Warhol - Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

I think you are confusing Andy Warhol's intentions and aesthetic practice and his personal appreciation for craftsmanship and excellent historical models. His intention was to become a machine with all the negative connotations for handwork that that meant. It is ironic that you have been caught in his irony so completely - he would have been amused (faintly). His apartment and estate sale will give you an idea of the complexity hidden behind the passivity.
Check this article http://books.google.com/books?id=gOMCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=andy+warhol+estate+sale+sothebys&source=bl&ots=jn1ZoKFkyX&sig=LQax2ab6_RT1sMX6Wdzn-LJuyoA&hl=en&ei=u5jCTZTRAouXtweazvWzBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDIQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Joel, I appreciate the observations. Spent some time myself observing while at various playgrounds with my daughter back in the time. Also enjoyed the bit of neighborhood history. Fun stuff, thanks.

R Francis,
I'm judging the guy by what he produced and his influence. He was a complex guy, most creative people are.

Not to be a stick in the mud but who looks anyway? I was in art school at the time. Never cared much for his ideas or his art. Moved into construction and found an even greater lack of attention to detail let alone design or craftsmanship. But thats our culture, it's forgetable. People spend more time looking at their cell phones than into the eyes of their fellow man. Most folks don't know who he was or who they are for that matter. That's why the crafts are so important today. We've lost all contact with the Great Life Force. Don't have a clue. At least through woodworking we can touch the vail and for a moment glimpse our origin.

This is a great post Joel. True that Warhol had intentions of making clever observations on modern society, but too often irony is mistaken for intelligence and creativity when in fact its usually nothing more than a thin layer of veneer, offering an eye catching image with little substance below. The sincerity in craft and folk art is what seems to be lacking most in a world of disposable products. I find it fitting that your observations were made by the farmer's market. Fortunately, people have become more aware of the value of simple wholesome food and hopefully this gets passed on to an appreciation of local, organic, sustainable objects. Continuing with this metaphor I would equate the work of craftsmen such as Nakashima, Krenov and Maloof to a third week of August heirloom tomato and Warhol as nothing more than a can of Campbell's tomato soup.

Usually I enjoy what you have to say about craft and design, but here you have missed not only the point of Warhol’s work but also what Pop Art and modern art in the 50’s and 60’s was all about. To grossly simplify, it’s fair to say artists were appropriating the means and methods of consumer culture in order to comment on them. Remember the soap cans? The artwork isn’t disposable but of course the real products are. Your comments remind me of the kind of greetings contractors and subs hail me with when I come on construction sites. “Here he comes with the funny papers”. As if design is worthless, ideas trash, and creative concepts mere fantasy. Real men just ‘build it’. Bla! You’re lucky I’m not an interior designer. Then I’d really rip you a new one for what you said about their work. And what does any of this have to do with the decline of woodshop classes? You are right about the Decker building though. It is very pretty in a fussy, prim sort of way. So who DESIGNED the Decker building? John H. Edelmann. Architect. 1893.

Let me try again.
What I found amusing is that here is a building that housed the single most important pop artist and one of the most important artists of the mid-late 20th century. But there is no evidence of it. The owners of the building kept the original detail of the building. Why? In my view no matter what the message of Pop Art is, it was meant for the here and now, which has passed, and average people like myself would much rather look at something well made, than dated hip and trendy.
Maybe the medium IS the message? And what people respond to for real, once the shock of the new is worn out, is craft and the things that are well made and designed. There might be some hidden meaning in the designs of the Decker building, and maybe in Pop Art too, but that's not what I respond to and I think most people don't either.

N.B. - Contractors and Subs have been complaining about architects since the beginning of the profession - don't let it get you down.