P
erhaps everything
after the aptly titled
Graduation has been the
start of Kanye’s career
as a true Pop-Artist,
as opposed to his previous title of
Hip-Hop/Pop Musician. His soirée
into shoe design and fashion with
Nike’s Yeezy and Yeezy II, another
20 shoe models (!) for Adidas set
to drop, and collaborations with
Louis Vuitton under his belt, has
shown that he refuses “to be put
in a box as a musician and nothing
more” (Power 105’s The Breakfast
Club Interview). As the opening
Warhol quote would point to, fame
and notoriety serve as nothing more
than the creation of a brand with
which to endorse with. This concept
has very real consequences for what
can be considered “Art” or not. The
line between commercialism and the
avant-garde has been blurred, maybe
for good.
As facebook, tumblr, and twitter
would indicate, we live in the “15
minutes of fame” era in which
everyone has the ability to “be
somebody” at the click of a mouse.
Who we are as avatars, names, brands,
and/or symbols, are creatures capable
of accruing or losing followers,
influence, fame, and money. Andy
Warhol was among the first wave
of artists to perceive and promote
the concept of “Business Art,” the
practice of becoming an entity of
which people can purchase in order
to feel artsy, rich, elite, hip, etc;
much like consumer goods such as
Coca-Cola, Campbell Soup, Cadillac
or Louis Vuitton.