Andy Warhol’s Movies

At the height of his career, Warhol simultaneously worked on multiple projects across many different fields and a wide range of disciplines. You will know of Warhol’s screen prints of celebrities and consumer products. Warhol also produced a number of movies, most of them considered experimental in their subject matter and structure. Here are the four movies that you don’t need any description besides from its title. 

Sleep (1963) – 5 HRS 20 MINS

“[sleep] was the first real movie I made. I put a camera on somebody sleeping, and that’s how it all started…It just seemed so easy to do.”

Sleep is a silent black-and-white film that showed John Giorno, Andy Warhol’s lover, in various positions of sleep. The film is shown on five reels of an hour each. Just like his art, Warhol brought the concept of reproduction into his films. Actually, the film’s opening shot only lasts four-and-a-half minutes, but it was repeated 6 times. The rest of the film adopts the same technique, focusing on different parts of Giorno’s body and which are then edited into a loop. 

Eat (1964) – 39 MINS

Reading the title, you’d probably guess that this film must have something to do with food. Yes, you are right but could you imagine a 40-minute film with only one scene: a man eating raw mushroom. Just like Sleep, the film is shot in black and white and with no sound.

Kiss (1964)  – 58 MINS

Kiss is another of Andy Warhol’s silent black and white films. It features close-up footage of 14 different couples kissing, each for exactly 3.5 minutes, no more or no less. As Andy Warhol himself was bisexual, the movie features straight, lesbian and gay couples.

Empire (1964) – 8 HOURS 5 MINS

The movie, Empire takes its name from the only main character in this extremely long silent monotone movie – the Empire State Building. Andy Warhol climbed to the 44th floor of the Time & Life Building and pointed his camera to the tallest building in front of him. The whole one-shot film showed only the still building. Shot at night, the color of the sky remained dark and unchanged. 

Which one you think is the most challenging to watch? For us, we voted for the epic Empire! 

Andy Warhol: Pop Art Exhibition runs from 12 August – 24 November 2020.
Early bird tickets available at https://www.ticketmelon.com/rivercitybangkok/andywarhol