Image Essay #4

This artwork has numerous characteristics that define it as “Pop Art.” In fact, some people say that this piece was one of the first to inspire and bring about the Pop Art movement. The first reason this artwork falls under the genre of Pop Art is the style of the piece. This artwork is a collage (the use of gathering separate pictures along with own artistic techniques to create a unifying picture). Hamilton uses black and white photographs of a couple, cutouts of everyday items such as the Ford logo and the Tootsie Roll Pop, and a picture of a moon or other outer-space body. This technique of collage is very common among Pop Art.

Another reason this piece is Pop Art is because of the subject matter presented in the piece. Each of the elements that make up the artwork are common, everyday items that are very recognizable in our culture today. The first object we notice as a viewer is the phallic Tootsie Roll Pop being held by the body-builder in the picture. Another common item can be found in the background on the lamp shade. This is none other than the Ford logo seen on numerous vehicles throughout the country. We also see the can of ham sitting on the table. Then there are the people themselves which appear to be common, everyday people sitting in there house surrounded by their material belongings. Pop artists used these common items in order to reach a broader audience. Because they could do so, there was more reaction from the artworks. Pop artists believed that art was not only for the elite but also for the middle to lower class individuals of society. By using these common objects within their pieces, more people could relate and try to understand the artwork.

A third reason the artwork is Pop Art is the fact that there was no use of traditional art mediums. The artwork contains no painting or drawing, and there was little step-by-step process involved. This is clearly shown with the radio. It appears that Hamilton did not really know what to do with the object, so he randomly placed it on the floor. He also did not pre-plan the room itself. The carpet, for instance, does not fit in the piece because it is pure black and white while the rest of the pieces or in color or at least grayscale. The piece also has created a space not typically seen. That is, the artwork is not a recreation of say, a landscape, but is depicting a moment never seen in normal life. By this I’m referring to the fact that there is a space object above the room. There is no ceiling; rather we are directly underneath this moon or planet. Everyone knows this is not seen by people.