Andy Warhol's Screen Tests

A response to Andy Warhol's Screen Test of Ann Buchanan. While watching the film I felt implicated in it, as she stared at us unblinking, without moving, I felt as though I shouldn't move or shift or make any noise either. While Warhol's Screen Tests are limited to three minute film reels, my camera is automatically set to take ten minute videos. Like Warhol, I have let the constraints of the camera guide the making of the screen test, and have made it ten minutes long. However, I don't have Buchanan's discipline, and couldn't resist blinking for long. Still it was painful, my already blurred vision without my glasses became more so, with the camera lense becoming the only distinct object in my line of vision. It also amplified an action I do constantly, both demonstrating that I can barely control my blinking, but also making the normally unnoticed action very pleasurable and relieving. After our class discussion I wonder if Buchanan's tears are a sort of money shot, or if here too Warhol holds back the climax of the event shown, that is, the physical gratification and relief.

Screen Test from Helen Hajnoczky on Vimeo.