ambition

Something that I think is key to understanding Warhol's Campbell's soup can paintings - maybe the most important thing, even though it's easy to overlook - is the intense personal associations that Campbell's soup had for him. It wasn't just some mass-produced item, to him. 

That's what I notice about his art and films - what matters about them is what he thinks and feels. He doesn't cater to an audience in an obvious way. Like, with the Empire State Building film....it's just a shot of the Empire State Building that goes for 8 hours and 5 minutes. The only observable change is when it gets dark and the lights come on. He said himself that it was probably better to think about the film than to watch it. But he was making something that was interesting to him. 

It's not like he didn't care how his work was received, though. He really wanted to succeed at art and he did everything with that in mind.