Mind Your Language

In August 1962, Andy Warhol (American, 1928–1987) began making silkscreen paintings of popular icons, including a series of images of Marilyn Monroe that he began a month after her death. He went on to experiment in portrait making with public photo booth machines, which automatically take four exposures several seconds apart and print them in a strip, like a sequence of film frames.

Combining the seriality of these silkscreen and photo booth portraits with the ephemeral quality of the filmed image, between 1964 and 1966 Warhol shot approximately 500 rolls of film: several-minute silent portraits of acquaintances, friends, and celebrities, including many of the artists musicians, poets, actors, models, playwrights, curators, collectors, critics, and gallerists who composed New York City’s avant-garde scene. Some subjects were invited to the artist’s East 47th Street studio, known as The Factory or The Silver Factory, to sit for their portraits; others were captured spontaneously.

Now it’s your turn. Switch on that webcam and make your own screen test, upload it to Flickr and become a part of the MoMA exhibition! You can find instructions for recreating the Warhol effect at the Project Home, under the Create Your Own Screen Test tab. Have fun and let us know if your video is chosen!

Strange Random Screen Test Quote:

“After my screen test, the director clapped his hands gleefully and yelled: “She can’t talk! She can’t act! She’s sensational!”” – Ava Gardner

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