The Bigger Picture

In 1985 Andy Warhol published a book of texts titled America. It includes images of celebrities, politicians and stylish nobodies belonging to ‘the best country in the world’, alongside essays that describe Warhol’s version of the American way:

“America always begins with moods… But the trouble with the moods is that they’re always changing, sometimes really fast. And when that happens, the movies change, the babies change, the votes change, the decisions change and America flip-flops onto something totally new… That’s why the American government and the American media are so great. The President, the news magazines, television – they only want to capture America’s mood at the moment, reflect it back and tell everyone who’s not in the same mood to get over it and start feeling American like everyone else.”


So what mood are you in right now, America,
as you flip-flop
onto the new?

America, how are you feeling
as you surf
the stormy sea?

Tell us, U.S., how you doing
as you meander
into the what will be will be?

Some of us are worried about you.


Warhol Lives