Brillo Boxes
Brillo Boxes were among
many works that Warhol made in the 1960s in a spirit of exploration and the elevation of the everyday. Calling to mind a factory assembly line, Warhol created dozens of these boxes in his art studio, the Silver Factory. The process involved creating wooden replicas of the original boxes, painting them and then silkscreening the commercial text and imagery. The finished box sculptures were virtually indistinguishable from their cardboard models. Warhol exhibited these at the Stable Gallery in 1964, cramming the space with piled-high boxes recalling a grocery warehouse.
Point of View by Noel Carroll, Professor of the Philosophy of Art,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
"A major tool of philosophical research is the thought experiment–an imagined case that rhetorically inclines the philosopher to come to a certain conclusion. Warhol’s Brillo Boxes functions as a thought experiment, posing the question: “What makes Brillo Boxes an artwork whereas its indiscernible counterpart, an ordinary box of Brillo, is not?” This method–the method of indiscernible counterparts–has become a frequent tool for framing problems in the philosophy of art."
Point of View by Joyce A. Gannon, journalist and mother
"At first glance, Brillo Boxes sends a shudder through me: I hate to scrub pots and pans. But like a good consumer, I buy Brillo pads because nothing works better on burnt macaroni and cheese. I really love the yellow box. Not because it’s a “3 cents off pack”: that shade looks like the kind of packages lining the shelves of both my grandmothers’ kitchens. They raised lots of children in the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s in roomy brick houses in old Pittsburgh neighborhoods. The white boxes conjure up the mood of the ‘50s and ‘60s: bigger and bolder like the “modern” kitchens where the shiny appliances were supposed to make the tasks easier. But they still needed Brillo pads."
Point of View by Rev. Gail Ransom, East-Liberty Presbyterian Church
"We were having a fairly heady discussion about art, religion, and culture by the time we climbed onto the fifth floor and breathlessly approached the Brillo Boxes. There, my thoughts wandered from connections between religious icons and pop culture to a small closet in my kitchen where I have
a similar box, crumpled and rusty, stuffed between the Windex and the Comet cleanser. In all my years of scrubbing with sponges, mops and steel wool, I have rarely stopped to notice the packaging. I just ripped the boxes open and started my work. But these elevated Brillo Boxes show me that we are surrounded by art. It lines the aisles of our supermarkets. It decorates our homes. It festoons our trash bins: pungent red, flashing yellow, telltale white. My pantry is now a gallery and my chores interactive art."
Andy Warhol, photo Greg Gorman, 1983
