Muses and their Uses

Muses, as we now know them commonly to be, people who inspire the creation of literature and of the arts. From the early 1960s until now, there has been countless of muses for different kinds of artists, be them painters, musicians, dancers, photographers, filmmakers etc. Models, actors, or even just an ordinary person with no outstanding accomplishment can be a muse. There are some muses that still inspire people to write and talk about them, such as the legendary Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Edie Sedgwick and even Princess Diana. But these are muses that are cultivated in the much earlier centuries before, and their flairs are timeless. But as we grow into the modern society, muses have become more of a commercial value than real art inspiration. As the saying goes, “One day you’re a muse, the next day you’re over-used”. High end models like Gisele Bundchen, singers like Britney Spears, shot to fame becoming muses for photographers and writers, but after a while, their value fades, and the next muse will come along.

In the 60’s there were so many avant garde artists, commerical illustrators, filmmakers and authors who solely rely on muses to inspire them in their creation. Let’s take Andy Warhol for example, he has been considered to be one of the most talked about artist from that era. He was everything that was mentioned above, and more. He, probably had the most number of muses that he used for his works, be it in his paintings, his underground movies, feature and documentary films. Edie Sedgwick, Ultra Violet and Viva were a large part of his collection of muses. In a documentary about the life of Andy Warhol and his muses, he quoted that his there was only one person that he has met in his life that has led to a kind of fascination that grew close to love, and that person was Edie Sedgwick.

Edie Sedgwick, full name Edith Minturn Sedgwick, was basically a 60’s wildchild born into a wealthy family which was long established in the Massachusetts history. She ran away from her troubled childhood to Cambridge where she met Andy Warhol, and instantly she struck him as one of the most beautiful person he has ever seen, and the most troubled and fragile character at the same time. He found her to be a great inspiration for many of his photographs, and she participated in many of his underground movies, like “Poor Little Rich Girl”, and a short stint in “Vinyl”. At that time, she travelled with him all the way to Paris to promote their movies, and they were working together for a long time. His fascination for her was much of that of someone he would call his “Melpomene”, which in Greek means a muse of tragedy. He used her frailness and giving nature to create many works of art in her name. At that time, Andy Warhol had a factory where he put up many of his works, filmed all his underground movies in, and it was filled with bureaucrats, wealthy aristocrats, Hollywood celebrities and socialites. She became such a figure in his factory that director George Hickenlooper created a fictionalized film about her life and times called “The Factory Girl”, in which showed her downfall due to drugs which led to her death. The film also showed how Andy Warhol replaced her with another muse after she spent all her trust fund and became a junkie. As said, it was a fictional film, and no one really knew what really happened, but until today, Edie Sedgwick owe her instilled fame to Warhol, with books, autobiographies, websites , paintings and websites to her name.

Muses is, and forever needed no matter which century we live in. Even if we’re not related to the art industry, we still look upon people for inspiration in their lives, that’s why so many inspirational movies are made. They are created to allow people to know that there are people that have gone through the rat hole to get to where they are today. One of the most talked about inspirational film would be Forrest Gump, and even “The Pursuit of Happiness”. Be it how we speak, think, work, create our works, there is always something, or someone in our heads to lead and inspire our right side of our brains to work.