15 minutes of fame
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15 minutes of fame (or famous for 15 minutes) is an expression coined by the American artist Andy Warhol. It refers to the fleeting condition of celebrity that grabs into an object of media attention, then passes to some new object as soon as people's attention spans are exhausted. It is often used in reference to figures in the entertainment industry and other areas of popular culture.
In 1986, Warhol had a short-lived MTV television series, Andy Warhol's 15 Minutes.
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[edit] Origin
The expression is a paraphrase of Andy Warhol's 1968 statement: "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." In 1979 Warhol reiterated his claim: "...my prediction from the sixties finally came true: In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes."[1]
Becoming bored with continually being asked about this particular statement, Warhol deliberately tried to confuse interviewers by changing the statement variously to "In the future 15 people will be famous" and "In 15 minutes everybody will be famous."[2][3]
[edit] Interpretation
Warhol's comment and the insight it expresses grew out of his own interest in fame and celebrity. His view of the media was that they could enable any person to become famous. Warhol's own shifting entourage of otherwise undistinguished hangers-on in the '60s and '70s, whom he dubbed his "Superstars," exemplified his idea of short-term, disposable celebrity.
The age of reality television has seen the comment wryly updated as: "In the future, everyone will be obscure for 15 minutes."[4] The British artist Banksy has done a sculpture of a TV that has "In the future, everyone will be anonymous for 15 minutes" written on its screen.
A more recent adaptation of Warhol's quip, possibly prompted by the rise of online social networking, blogging, and similar online phenomena, is the claim that "In the future, everyone will be famous to fifteen people" (or, in some renditions, "On the Web, everyone will be famous to fifteen people").[5] This quote was said [5] to have originated with the Scottish artist Momus.[6]
[edit] 15 Minutes of Fame Party
Interview Magazine and Andy Warhol threw a "15 Minutes of Fame Party" in NYC in the mid '80s, attended by Blondie's Debbie Harry, dance's Lawrence Leritz, and many of Warhol's underground film stars.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
- Cult of celebrity
- Fad
- Internet meme
- It girl
- One-hit wonder
- 29 Minutes of Fame (a British quiz show, which borrows its title from the expression)
[edit] References
- ^ Warhol photo exhibition, Stockholm, 1968: Kaplan, Justin, ed., Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 16th Ed., 1992 (Little, Brown & Co.), p. 758:17)
- ^ http://eu2006.tuuletin.fi/fileadmin/tiedostot/material/i2010-presentations/Mika_Mannermaa_Article.pdf[dead link]
- ^ Looking For Fame In All the Wrong Places, by Candace Murphy in the Chicago Tribune, Aug 25, 2006
- ^ Peltz, Jennifer (2004-03-01). "Aiken and Clarkson show off Idol mettle". http://chautauqua.yuku.com/topic/374. Retrieved on 2008-05-27.
- ^ a b Weinberger, D (2005-07-23). "Famous to fifteen people". http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/mtarchive/004264.html. Retrieved on 2006-12-21.
- ^ Momus (1991). "POP STARS? NEIN DANKE! In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen people...". Grimsby Fishmarket. http://imomus.com/index499.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-07.
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[edit] External links
- 15 Seconds of Fame - An interactive, computer-vision based art installation
