ANDY WARHOL / Index

Andy Warhol
Index 1967
Hardcover, 
28.5 x 22cm
Random House, New York

Condition: Very good. Missing the LP and like most editions pages stuck together from ballon.

Originally advertised as “a mod, gadget-packed item guaranteed to surprise and delight,” this “children’s book for hipsters” combines interviews and photographs with pop-up images and other interactive elements in a playful celebration of Andy Warhol’s Factory and its denizens. The artist’s first mass-produced book, Andy Warhol’s Index is an innovative and influential work of art and publishing in its own right.

The book contains ten pop-up or pull-out components: a pop-up castle; a harmonic accordion (or “Bronx cheer maker”); a pop-up biplane; a “spring-loaded” Chelsea Girls paper disc; an illustrated dodecahedron; a 45 RPM flexi disc recording of Nico and others talking over fragments of Lou Reed’s songs “I’m Waiting for the Man” and “Femme Fatale” (This is missing); a foldout photographic print; a pop-up Hunt’s tomato paste can; a sheet of perforated moisture-sensitive paper tabs (1 tab has been removed); and a silver rubber balloon (as in most books this has caused the pages to stick together).

The use of silver throughout the book was intended to reflect the Factory’s decor, while the “3D action cover,” created by Warhol in collaboration with artist and inventor Billy Klüver, has a holographic effect.