Abstract

In his analysis of American avant-garde film Allegories of Cinema, David James titles his chapter on Andy Warhol “The Producer as Author.” He examines how Warhol, through his Factory, nurtured the mass production of art. James concludes that this assembly line approach erases Warhol from the piece of art as author, a claim that places the artist at the leading cusp of the postmodern tradition. Although this discussion of assembly line applies less to Warhol’s films than it does to his silkscreens and paintings, relevance can still be found, particularly in his later films. Using Flesh (1968), Women in Revolt (1971), and Heat (1972) as primary texts, this article will contend that Warhol, instead of erasing himself completely, actually enters into his own pieces of art, especially when his use of camp works to construct notions of sexuality and domesticity. I will argue that, instead of the author’s erasure, Warhol the author is fragmented, later pieced together as a gestalt image of ‘Warhol’ which stands in for, and even replaces, the piece of art.