Paramony

The idea of parallel harmony was first introduced to me by my subconscious. I needed a word for something I was writing and this popped into my head. Now, I can't take credit for coining the word, as an author used the word for his book's title (information I found after researching on whether the word already existed), but I can extrapolate on what it means to me.

As applied to art, the term can be used to describe two seemingly parallel bodies of work that rest in some harmonious middle ground, i.e. the works of Ray Johnson and Andy Warhol. Warhol seemed obsessed with fame while Johnson maintained a desire to exist in "artworld" anonymity. Warhol's paintings and films all speak to the monumentality of America. Filming static objects for an entire roll of film (as in Empire) or turning the camera on the people he literally manufactured at the Factory, Warhol's film work seems to be less about the deconstruction of narrative in traditional movies and more about the sheer massiveness of American "objects" (people, ideas, physical things) as well as the fluid properties of personality. Both artists dealt specifically with public persona as a contrived device for navigating the social implications of being an artist, but as Warhol focused his attention on fame, Johnson seemed bent on achieving a kind of infamy.

Johnson mingled with artists, attended openings, produced art, and was regarded by his peers as a formidable talent, yet none of his works are mention in any general contemporary art text. His simple and formulaic style often strikes artists as possessing some kind of purity seldom seen in today's "artworld". Like Warhol, Johnson manufactured personality as an artistic statement. This idea of fluid personality seems to grease the wheels of America, something that both Johnson and Warhol recognized. While their intentions were somewhat different, each artist straddled a similar idea and created harmony between parallel trains of thought that travel in opposite directions. Thus paramony.