Russell, Warhol: Incandescences

Ben Russell gathers the impressions of an audience in raptures to the noise of Lightning Bolt. It is a manipulation of the live experience -real time-, which portrays youngsters given over to a powerful floodlight coming from the back of the stage.

Lupe Vélez was an ephemeral Hollywood star who got dressed up before she committed suicide at home. Warhol, in one of his studio system satires, turns a delicate Edie Sedgwick into Lupe. Both authors deal with the dichotomy between fame and anonymity, depicting the human being in the intoxicating state of someone who is reflecting an alien light.

Black and White Trypps number 3, Ben Russell. USA, 2007, 12 min, 16 mm
Lupe, Andy Warhol. USA, 1972, 12 min, 16 mm