SLEEP-OVER
In conjunction with the ongoing exhibition The Big Nothing, “a constellation of music, art, film, and talks on themes of nothing, independently organized by 36 venues throughout Philadelphia, the ICA in Philadelphia presents Nothing Cabaret, Wednesday, July 21 at 7 p.m.:
“Cooked up in the spirit of the Cabaret Voltaire with a touch of ‘The Sonny and Cher Show,’ [Nothing Cabaret is] an evening of music, poetry, science, art, sleight of hand and silence, concluding with a performance by Bardo Pond and a screening of Andy Warhol’s 1963 film Sleep. The film starts around 9 p.m., runs for 5-and-a-half hours, so do the math, and bring your sleeping bag to cozy up for a summer night on ICA’s terrace.
“Warhol’s first film, [Sleep] was planned as an eight-hour-long movie, but was actually made by looping footage. The film was shot in the apartment of its star, John Giorno, in July 1963. The premiere of Sleep took place on January 17, 1964 at the Gramercy Arts Theater as a benefit screening for the Film-Makers’ Cooperative. According to the New York Post, the screening was attended by only nine people, two of whom left during the first hour.”
