15 minutes of fame

:"For the film, see 15 Minutes."

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 onto 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".

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." [Warhol photo exhibition, Stockholm, 1968: Kaplan, Justin, ed., Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 16th Ed., 1992 (Little, Brown & Co.), p. 758:17)]

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." [ [http://eu2006.tuuletin.fi/fileadmin/tiedostot/material/i2010-presentations/Mika_Mannermaa_Article.pdf] ] [ [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20060825/ai_n16700346 Looking For Fame In All the Wrong Places] , by Candace Murphy in the Chicago Tribune, Aug 25, 2006]

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." [cite web | title = Aiken and Clarkson show off Idol mettle | url=http://chautauqua.yuku.com/topic/374 | author=Peltz, Jennifer | date = 2004-03-01 | accessdate=2008-05-27] 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"). [cite web | title = Famous to fifteen people | url=http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/mtarchive/004264.html | author=Weinberger, D | date = 2005-07-23 | accessdate=2006-12-21] This quote was said to have originated with the Scottish artist Momus.cite web | title = POP STARS? NEIN DANKE! In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen people... | author = Momus | url = http://imomus.com/index499.html | date = 1991 | publisher = Grimsby Fishmarket | accessdate = 2008-10-07]

The quote has also been paraphrased as "15 "seconds" of fame."

ee 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)

References

External links

* [http://black.fri.uni-lj.si/15sec/ 15 Seconds of Fame] - An interactive, computer-vision based art installation