The Warhol Museum

Trash 1976-1986
Gelatin Silver Print, sewn with thread

Walking through a room of Warhol’s gelatin silver prints, a common theme of repetition and subject matter that make carefully planned out patterns, the most striking was Trash. In this piece, the camera captured a section of what appears to be a trash dump. However, upon further investigation, the individual pieces of trash – food wrappers, a Tropicana orange juice carton, newspapers, a paisley printed rag, tin foil, and a shoe magazine – collectively become a glimpse into, not only the time, but the culture from which the photo was taken.

True to Warhol’s style, this single image is repeated four times and sewn together in a relatively sloppy style to show process and to emphasize an industrial and consumerist society. Although relatively busy, the focal point of each of the four prints is a bright white shoe magazine. Having entered into this museum with a thorough understanding, not only of Warhol as a person, but of his style and interest in consumerism and production, this piece seemed to epitomize Warhol as an artist. Taking a pile of trash, repeating it four times, sewing it together to make it a single piece, and then presenting it to the viewer: although not silk screened or drawn, this is Warhol. The repetition of this cluttered image could not help but be imprinted in my head.