Sunday 3 June 2018

i shot andy warhol

On this day, fifty years ago radical anarchist Valerie Jean Solanas (1936* - 1988†), playwright and author, turned herself in to authorities (later once deemed fit to stand for trial, for “reckless endangerment with intent to harm”) for firing shots from a pistol at Andy Warhol (wounding him) and associates at The Factory, his sixth floor studio in the Decker Building of Midtown Manhattan.
Remanded to psychiatric care and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, it is speculated that Solanas grew increasingly suspect of the ulterior motives of eccentric patrons like Warhol and those in the publishing industry who would undermine her message and claim her words as their own. Her SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men) Manifesto, a scathing criticism of modern norms which proposed eliminating the monetary system and the patriarchy by means of total automation, saw its initial publication the week of Solanas’ sentencing, which was two years plus time served.