When Art Literally Makes You Snooze
Ever wonder what watching someone sleep for over five hours would be like? No? Well, Andy Warhol didn’t care what you wanted anyway. In 1964, this madman of modern art created “Sleep,” a film that’s exactly what it sounds like – his buddy John Giorno catching Z’s for a mind-numbing 5 hours and 21 minutes.
And get this: Warhol originally planned to film a full EIGHT HOURS of snoozing! That’s right, he actually scaled back to make it more “audience-friendly.” How thoughtful.
The Guy Who Made Soup Cans Cool
Before forcing moviegoers to watch paint dry (or in this case, a dude drool), Warhol was already famous for turning everyday objects into high art. Those Campbell’s soup cans that your grandma probably had stacked in her pantry? Warhol slapped them on canvas and suddenly they were worth millions. Same deal with those Brillo pad boxes and Coca-Cola bottles.
But nothing says “I’m an artistic genius” quite like his yellow banana from The Velvet Underground & Nico album cover. That phallic fruit became one of pop art’s most iconic images – and yes, on early vinyl copies, you could actually PEEL the banana sticker. Mind blown, right?
Sleep: The Ultimate Anti-Blockbuster
So back to “Sleep.” Picture this: you’re sitting in a dingy New York theater in the 60s, possibly questioning your life choices, as you watch John Giorno’s chest rise and fall… for HOURS. During the film’s premiere, legend has it that only nine people showed up, and two of them bounced before it was over. Shocking, I know.
What’s even more hilarious is that Warhol didn’t even film a continuous eight hours of sleep. He took random snippets of Giorno sleeping and looped them together. That’s right – it’s basically the world’s first sleep compilation video, decades before YouTube was a thing.
Method to the Madness
Was Warhol trolling everyone? Probably. But there was also some artistic merit buried somewhere in there. His “anti-films” challenged the very concept of entertainment and flipped Hollywood the bird. While Tinseltown was busy creating elaborate narratives, Warhol was like, “Here’s a dude sleeping. Deal with it.”
It was the ultimate flex from the guy who famously predicted that “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Ironic, since “Sleep” demanded over 300 minutes of your time.
So next time you’re binge-watching your favorite show, just remember: somewhere out there is a film of a guy sleeping, and it’s considered high art. Meanwhile, your three-hour Netflix marathon is just procrastination. The difference? One of them has Campbell’s soup cans and yellow bananas attached to its creator’s name.
Now that’s what I call a dream job.
