In his autobiography Fifteen Minutes of Fun, though, Warhol noted that his mother spoke with a thick Bostonian accent, so her proclamation sounded more like, “Stuff is just stuff, but stuff with macaroni glued on it is AHT.” Late in life, Warhol realized that she might have actually been saying “stuff with macaroni glued on it is AUGHT.”
Warhol said his mother taught him that “an artist is somebody who produces things that people don't need to have.” Then she’d add, “and we don’t need this lamp with macaroni on it. It’s art.” But was she saying, “It’s AHT,” in her Boston brogue, or was she admitting, “It’s AUGHT”?
Warhol picked up the practice when he began making a name for himself in the world of art. Every time he’d unveil a newly painted can of soup he’d proclaim, “My greatest piece of aht!” Or was was he saying “aught”? Only Warhol knew for sure!
In tribute to Warhol’s soupy works of art – or aught – the Emmett Lee Dickinson Museum (above the coin-op Laundromat on Dickinson Boulevard in historic Washerst) partnered with the Andy Warhol Museum (near Galardi's 30 Minute Cleaners on Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh) to host a landmark exhibit devoted to the artist throughout the month of October 2015.
Candy Koren, the ELD Museum’s Localized Research Motivator and Real-Time Creativity Networker, worked closely with Milly Gatawny, the Warhol Museum’s Global Synergistic End-User Marketing Orchestrator and Dynamic Benchmark Aggregator, to assemble some of Warhol’s greatest works of “aught” along with some rare and never-before-seen pieces from the Warhol Museum’s private collection. Pictured at the right: Candy Koren, the ELD Museum's Localized Research Motivator and Real-Time Creativity Networker |
If you were unable to visit the ELD Museum in October to see this ground-breaking exhibit, you can still check it out HERE. Then you can decide for yourself. Is it art? Or is it aught?