ANDY WARHOL: HOMAGE TO RICHARD MUTT [1975]
A. Warhol: Homage to R. Mutt (1975), the first Joint-Assisted-Ready-made, will be featured in the next issue of INTERMEDIA, a Los Angeles interdisciplinary journal of the Arts, Resources, and Communication. The only authorized photograph of the art object, to be published for the first time in INTERMEDIA, was taken by Ann Arbor photographer Olivier C. Carduner.
An accompanying article states unequivocally: "A. Warhol: Homage to R. Mutt (1975) is the single most important objet d'art created in America since Marcel Duchamp's R. Mutt: Fountain (1917)" Whereas Duchamp's work was produced nearly 60 years ago in New York City the homage to Mutt was created in Ann Arbor on September 15, 1975, when Warhol was touring to publicize his new book The Philosophy of Andy Warhol [From A to B & Back Again].
Veiled in a shroud of secrecy pending INTERMEDIA's early 1977 release, Charlton Burch of lightworks/image based arts and media magazine, nonetheless talked about the work with its co-creator Lionel A. Biron who is collaborating on a critical edition of Tristan Tzara's DADA periodical to be published in Nice next Spring. "I handed Warhol the object, " Biron stated, "with the intention of raising it to the nth power in honor of Rrose Selavy." Upon further questioning he would only ad that a full description of the Joint-Assisted-Ready-Made will appear in INTERMEDIA in the same article in which the art object and a limited signed edition of the photograph will be offered for sale. When asked about the moral issues surrounding this sale, he placidly concluded the interview by saying: "oh yes. The Capitalist Paradox. You must own it. You simply cannot live without it. And with it you will die."
- You may obtain INTERMEDIA, No. 5/6 (Winter 1977) by writing directly to: INTERMEDIA, c/o Harley Lond, 2431 Echo Park Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90026. (Subscriptions: $5.00 for four issues)
