Duke Performances and the Nasher Museum of Art presented Dean & Britta doing 13 Most Beautiful… Songs for Any Warhol’s “Screen Tests” on Thursday Feb. 18, 2010 at 8 p.m., as part of an ongoing series that Duke is doing that centers on Warhol and his circle.
I arrived at 8:10 p.m.
A gripe before I begin: arriving absolutely no more than 15 minutes after my ticket said the performance was supposed to begin; the Dookies were going to make me wait outside until an intermission (of which there wasn’t one, with only minimal talksets between songs).
Luckily my usher (out of the 4 or more there, who guarded the 3 doors of the Reynolds Theater, located in the Bryan Center) wasn’t clued into this rule so I got in halfway through the first screen test/song.
In case you aren’t aware, Any Warhol (1928-1987), had a significant role in steering the direction that the American concept of cool has taken: from the disinterested look of a model and the nature of the New York art scene to the tattooed reproduction of Warhol’s painting Crosses that rapper Lil Wayne features on his right foot.
Warhol, who painted series of paintings on things like Marilyn Monroe and Campbell Soup Cans, was largely – if not solely responsible – for the creation and popularity of the Pop Art movement in the United States. A flamboyant character, painter, and avant garde filmmaker (he once made a film titled "Empire," which was an eight-hour long shot of the Empire State Building in New York City) his 1963 Eight Elvises painting sold for $100 million – putting him on the same level as Willem de Kooning, Pablo Picasso, Gustav Klimt, and Jackson Pollock.
Between 1964 and 1966 Warhol shot close to 500 Screen Tests with subjects ranging from the famous to the anonymous. A powerful keylight was used to create a stark contrast with light and dark, which is captured well by Warhol’s immobile 16mm Bolex camera. The silent, black and white 100-foot-rolls yielded two-and-a-half minute film reels that were screened in slow motion, creating four-minute filmic portraits of Warhol’s subjects.
The first screen test showed a man, who stared defiantly at the audience. Not without mystery, the indie-rock mixed with synthy electronica wasn’t nothing too exciting, although I did miss the very beginning.
Without interruption, Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, formerly of Luna and currently recording as Dean & Britta, along with two back-up from Matt Sumrow and Lee Waters launched into more of the same as the next screen test began.
After the song and screen test were over, Wareham discussed the subjects and their history (the girl just on lived with Allen Ginsberg, beat poet and author of Howl, and Neal Cassady, inspiration for Jack Kerouac’s focus in The Road) in a breathy, over-exerted voice even though no lyrics had been sung yet.
The next screen test was of Paul America and the music appropriately mirrored a more Americana feel.
Alternately, Wareham and Phillips would look to the screen behind them as though still waiting for inspiration or as if in dialogue with Warhol’s subjects.
The musicians traded instruments, Wareham the only one to stick to his guitar in addition to vocals. Phillips also stepped in for some crooning and occasional vocals, which were usually too soft or understated to be audible or intelligible. She played the bass and keyboard. Sumrow played the keyboards and a guitar. Waters played the drums, bass, acoustic guitar, and samples.
While mostly playing originals, the performers also dabbled in some covers, such as one by Lou Reed and another, which was penned by Dylan, and originally performed by Nico.
Paul America, Susan Bottomly, Ann Buchanan, Freddy Herko, Jane Holzer, Dennis Hopper, Billy Name, Nico, Richard Rheem, Lou Reed, Edie Sedgwick, Ingrid Superstar and Mary Woronov are all featured in the show.
The performance did not last long.
It started out bland, not bad, but not captivating either. The focus was on the screen tests and not the band. And at first the first screen tests were interesting, but also unable to captivate.
The music didn’t necessarily improve or change, but a synthesis with the screen tests allowed for a more enthralling over all spectacle.
(Maybe it was the Lou Reed cover that really pulled me in.)
The entire performance clocked in at just over an hour with a short screen test free encore afterwards.
Throughout the performance I couldn’t decide if the performers were affecting a cooler-than-thou boredom or really felt it, but, in retrospect, I have to conclude that they really were as bored as I would have felt if it weren’t for the beautifully-shot screen tests.
Especially considering that there is a DVD released in conjunction with the Andy Warhol Museum already available, and it features a live performance in the special features! –
So in the end, it was an interesting, but one that was also pretentious and a touch too costly.
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