Andy Warhol: Screen Tests, Sleep

This edition of Art at the Stair features two experimental film works by the artist Andy Warhol. For _Screen Tests_, Warhol shot more than 350 short film portraits of artists, writers, actors, musicians, and socialites. The 10 screened here include artists Salvador Dalí and Marcel Duchamp; poets John Giorno and Allen Ginsberg; musicians Bob Dylan, Nico, and Lou Reed; models Donyale Luna and Edie Sedgwick; and writer Susan Sontag. Played in slow motion, these dreamlike vignettes heighten every tiny movement—a blink, a breath, a flicker of self-consciousness. _Sleep_ captures American poet and artist John Giorno sleeping for more than five hours. Instead of narrative and action, Warhol offers the opposite: an extremely long film in which virtually nothing happens. The camera lingers on Giorno—Warhol's romantic partner at the time—transforming his stillness into a hypnotic spectacle. The artwork defiantly tests your attention and redefines what a film can be. _Sleep_ will be screened on 7 August, 21 August, 28 August, 18 September, 25 September, and 2 October from 16:00–21:30. Audiences may bring their own sleeping bag, pillow, and bedding to M+ for a one-of-a-kind experience, to slow down and rest alongside John Giorno!