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Description: Andy Warhol Screen Tests: The Films of Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné, Vol. 1
~In 1967, Kulchur Press published a book called Screen Tests/A Diary, which was a collaboration between Gerard Malanga and Andy Warhol. The publication included double-frame (actually two-and-a-half-frame) images taken from fifty-four Screen Tests of fifty-four...
PublisherYale University Press
https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00286.7
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Appendix A: Screen Tests/A Diary
In 1967, Kulchur Press published a book called Screen Tests/A Diary, which was a collaboration between Gerard Malanga and Andy Warhol. The publication included double-frame (actually two-and-a-half-frame) images taken from fifty-four Screen Tests of fifty-four different people, numbered one through fifty-four and arranged in alphabetical order by last name. Each person received a two-page spread: the enlarged frames from each Screen Test appeared on the right-hand page opposite a poem, on the left-hand page, written by Malanga about that person. After the book was published in April 1967, ads for Screen Tests/A Diary described it as “poems plus film strips.”1Eighth Street Bookshop ad for Screen Tests/A Diary, Village Voice, April 20, 1967, Billy Rose Theatre Collection, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Malanga’s practice of presenting his poetry or other works in association with works by Warhol dates to the fall of 1964, beginning with Malanga’s poem “Rollerskate,” which was written to be read as an accompaniment to Warhol’s 1963 silent film Dance Movie at a memorial for the dancer Freddy Herko. At a poetry reading on December 16, 1964, during an exhibition of Warhol Flowers paintings at the Leo Castelli Gallery, Malanga read “his poems to a jam-packed crowd (overflow lines of people waited outside hoping to get in) with a backdrop of Andy Warhol’s paintings.”2Eugenia Sheppard, “Pop Art, Poetry, and Fashion,” New York Herald Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 3, 1965, 10. Warhol’s Flowers exhibition at Leo Castelli ran from November 21 through December 19, 1964. The flyer for this event described it as “Poem Visuals by Andy Warhol and Gerard Malanga: The New Realism, Yeah Yeah, Fashion, and Disaster series read by Gerard Malanga,” but Warhol himself apparently did not attend the reading or participate in its conceptualization or in the writing of the announcement. Nevertheless, as Reva Wolf has pointed out, Malanga seems to have been convinced, “in his mind,” that this event was a collaboration between himself and Warhol. The collective title that Malanga gave it, “Poem Visuals by Andy Warhol and Gerard Malanga,” implied that “his poetry and the art on view were, rather than distinct entities, pieces of a kind of Gesamtkunstwerk.”3Wolf, Warhol, Poetry, and Gossip, 68–69 (see chap. 2, n. 14). A reproduction of the flyer for the December 16 reading at Leo Castelli appears on p. 67. Malanga’s “mental collaboration” with Warhol also extended to the poems he read at this event, which were in many cases inspired by or written about Warhol’s paintings.4Ibid., 70–74.
This ambiguity of influence, collaboration, and credit is a recurring theme in the relationship between Malanga and Warhol. Such ambiguity seems to have been the direct result of not only Warhol’s well-known practice of deliberately blurring the lines of authorship in his own work, but also of Malanga’s ambivalent position as Warhol’s minimum-wage studio assistant, in which role he did in fact help to paint the Flowers paintings as well as many of Warhol’s other works from this period. In this context, “Poem Visuals by Gerard Malanga and Andy Warhol” might be interpreted more specifically to mean something like: “Poems by Gerard Malanga inspired by Andy Warhol. Visuals by Andy Warhol assisted by Gerard Malanga.” Of course, Malanga had his own ambitions as a poet and an artist, ambitions that could benefit enormously from the creative space of the Factory and from association with Warhol’s fame and success. Perhaps Malanga’s publicly uncredited role in the production of Warhol’s artworks encouraged Malanga to expect, quid pro quo, Warhol’s availability as publicly credited collaborator for associated projects that Malanga himself might want to do—an arrangement, more tacit than explicit, that nevertheless resulted in a number of works including the names and contributions of both artists.5Reva Wolf has explored the uses of appropriation in Malanga’s work more thoroughly in her chapter, “Artistic Appropriation and the Image of Poet as Thief,” in ibid., 81–123.
Another Warhol-associated work by Malanga from 1964–65 is the Thermofax poems, which he typed or wrote by hand on single sheets of Thermofax paper onto which photographs of car crashes and other violent images culled from Warhol’s collection of news photographs had been copied. Warhol’s involvement in the project appears to have been minimal or nonexistent, even though some of the Thermofaxes bear the “Andy Warhol” stamp, and even though the Thermofaxed images themselves bear undeniable resemblances to Warhol’s series of Death and Disaster paintings. Several of these Thermofax poems were read aloud at the Castelli Gallery, and were later included in Malanga’s 1971 book, Chic Death, in which reproductions of Warhol’s Death and Disaster paintings accompanied Malanga’s poems.6See “Poems and Images of Death,” in Andy Warhol: Death and Disasters, exhibition catalogue (Houston: The Menil Collection and Houston Fine Arts Press, 1988), 24. Although this catalogue attributes the Thermofax poems to Malanga and Warhol, and to Billy Linich, who made the Thermofax images, Wolf reports that Malanga told her that Warhol and Name had little to do with the Thermofaxes (see Wolf, Warhol, Poetry, and Gossip, 172, n. 44). Linich (now known as Billy Name) told this author that he was usually the one who operated the Thermofax machine at the Factory, but that Malanga may have used it in 1965 when Linich was not there; e-mail to author, March 9, 2004.
A more elaborate Warhol/Malanga collaboration from the first half of 1966, discussed in detail under “Background Reels,” was Screen Test Poems (ST372), in which print reels of selected and assembled Screen Tests were projected behind readings of Malanga’s poetry. Again, this was a collaboration that seems to have been conceptualized and brought to fruition almost single-handedly by Malanga, who apparently selected the films to be included, choosing Screen Tests of friends, fellow poets, and other people significant in his personal life as well as at the Warhol Factory. Warhol’s participation may have been limited to allowing Malanga to make prints of his Screen Test films, and perhaps paying for the lab work. Neither Malanga nor Warhol was present at the premiere of Screen Test Poems at Cornell University in May 1966, when Malanga’s poems were read by Rene Ricard; the event was billed as “Screen Test Poems by Gerard Malanga . . . Films by Andy Warhol.”7“Poetry Reading Review: Malanga, Warhol Consistent,” Cornell Daily Sun, May 4, 1966, Andy Warhol Scrapbook No. 9, AWM.
Screen Test Poems is clearly an early version of the Screen Tests/A Diary book project, which extended the concept of juxtaposing Warhol’s Screen Tests with Malanga’s poems into print; indeed, many of the same people and films were included in both projects. As in Screen Test Poems, Malanga’s selections included friends and fellow poets (Ashbery, Berrigan, Cassidy, Denby, Fainlight, the Fords, Ginsberg, Heliczer, Katz, Maas, Menken, Murray, Padgett, Ricard, Wieners), Warhol stars and other Factory figures (America, Bottomly, Holzer, Linich, Midgette, Morrissey, Nicholson, Nico, Ondine, Reed, Sedgwick, Tavel, Wein, Woronov), a smattering of celebrities (Berenson, Dalí, Donovan), and a number of women whom Malanga either had been involved with or was interested in, including Barzini and Caen. Interestingly, twenty-six, or nearly half, of the Screen Tests included in the book were shot in 1966, while fifteen date to 1965 and only thirteen were made in 1964, which is the year when the largest number of Screen Tests (232) were shot. It seems possible that some 1966 Screen Tests may have been shot specifically for inclusion in Screen Tests/A Diary, which Malanga began working on that summer.
Warhol’s involvement in Screen Tests/A Diary seems to have been, at least in its initial stages, more truly collaborative. Malanga’s diary entry for August 29, 1966, reports: “I’m almost finished with the writing of the Screen Test diary text, but Andy has a lot of stills that have to be made.” On September 24, 1966, Malanga noted that he had obtained “five out of the 45 releases for Screen Tests” at lunch, but “I still need to type up the Screen Tests/A Diary manuscript. I’ve already accumulated twelve or thirteen signatures from the forty-five listed. There might be some substitutes.”8Malanga, “From The Secret Diaries,” 278, 287, 288 (see chap. 2, n. 77).
According to Reva Wolf, the book itself was originally designed by Warhol. The initial plan was to print the film images on pages of clear acetate that would overlay Malanga’s poems, so the faces of the Screen Test subjects would appear superimposed over the lines of poetry that Malanga had written about them. As it happened, acetate proved too difficult to print, and so sheets of semitransparent vellum were used instead.9Wolf, “Collaboration,” 59; and notes 6–7 (see chap. 2, n. 376).
As Malanga’s diary entry of August 29, 1966, makes clear, there seems to have been a fairly clear division of labor between Warhol and Malanga, at least at first: Malanga’s job was to produce the text, by writing poems about the people whose Screen Tests had been selected for the book, while Warhol was to provide images from his films. The selection of people was largely left up to Malanga; according to Malanga, Warhol did ask him to include Henry Geldzahler and Ultra Violet, but he didn’t feel inspired to write poems about these two people, and so they were left out.10Ibid., 65, 66, and note 30. According to Malanga, Geldzahler was “very insulted” by his exclusion from the book.
Several different attempts seem to have been made to organize the films and film images for Screen Tests/A Diary, which eventually expanded from forty-five to fifty-four images, poems, and people. Although Warhol was supposed to be responsible for the illustrations, the making of the frame enlargements seems to have required Malanga’s hands-on attention, perhaps in his role as Warhol’s studio assistant. A total of nineteen of the original Screen Tests illustrated in the book bear Malanga’s handwritten lab instructions for the making of double-frame stills on their boxes; the selected film frames were apparently marked with bits of tape, which were later removed. Donovan’s Screen Test, for example (ST78), has lab instructions written in Malanga’s handwriting: “1 double-frame negative and 1 double-frame glossy 8” × 10” print marked by masking tape.”11The other Screen Tests bearing Malanga’s printing instructions are Paul America, John Ashbery, Ted Berrigan, Debbie Caen, Dan Cassidy, Denis Deegan, Harry Fainlight, Piero Heliczer, Freddy Herko, and David Murray. Another system for differentiating and labeling films selected for Screen Tests/A Diary was apparently used as well: many of the Screen Tests in this series were marked with special typed labels bearing the person’s name (see, for example, John Ashbery (ST13)). These labels were originally taped to the lids of the film cans with Scotch tape; most of these labels have since fallen off, and were found loose inside the film boxes.12Screen Tests bearing typed labels include: John Ashbery, Timothy Baum, Ann Buchanan, Debbie Caen, Ronnie Cutrone, Salvador Dalí, Denis Deegan, Donovan, Harry Fainlight, Charles Henri Ford, Allen Ginsberg, Piero Heliczer, Freddy Herko, Jane Holzer, Ed Hood, Paul Katz, Kenneth Jay Lane, Billy Linich, Willard Maas, Paul Morrissey, David Murray, Ivy Nicholson, Nico, Ondine, Ronna Page, John Palmer, Lou Reed, Barbara Rubin, Phoebe Russell, Francesco Scavullo, Edie Sedgwick, Chuck Wein, Mary Woronov. It is possible that all Screen Tests selected for Screen Tests/A Diary originally bore these typed labels, some of which have since been lost.
A few Screen Tests marked with handwritten instructions for the making of stills did not end up in Screen Tests/A Diary, perhaps because Malanga was not able to get signed releases from the posers, or because the stills were made for other purposes.13See Randy Bourscheidt (ST29), Dan Cassidy (ST49), Salvador Dalí (ST67), Bob Dylan (ST83), Sandra Hochman (ST138), Jane Holzer (ST148), Henry Rago (ST260), Ed Sanders (ST293), Edie Sedgwick (ST305), and Ingrid Superstar (ST332). The frame enlargement notated on Debbie Caen and Gerard Malanga (ST37) was reproduced on the flyer for Malanga’s reading of his “Debbie High School Drop-Out Poems” on January 31, 1966. Several double-frame images of Screen Tests, most of which were included in Screen Tests/A Diary, were published in the special December 1966 boxed issue of Aspen magazine, which Warhol designed with David Dalton, where they appear as illustrations to an article about “What’s happening in modern poetry?” by Malanga.14Gerard Malanga, “Hustling for Army Health Razor Blades & Bomb Drop Yuk Yuk!” Aspen 1, no. 3 (December 1966). Screen Test images of the following people appear in this issue, identified with captions: John Ashbery, Gerard Malanga, Debbie Caen, Ted Berrigan, Dan Cassidy, Ingrid Superstar, David Murray, and Rene Ricard.
As notated in the following list, the Screen Test images appearing in Screen Tests/A Diary have been matched to the original Screen Tests catalogued in this book. A few of the films have not been found in the collection; their current location is not known. These missing Screen Tests, nevertheless, have been included in this catalogue, sometimes solely on the strength of their appearance in Screen Tests/A Diary, which is considered a strong indication that these missing films were originally part of the body of Warhol Screen Tests. As Reva Wolf noted, a Screen Test of Andy Warhol was originally included as number forty-four in one of the early manuscripts for Screen Tests/A Diary but later dropped from the final version of the book; this missing Warhol Screen Test has also been given a catalogue entry (ST349).15Wolf, “Collaborations”, 66, note 34 (see chap. 2, n. 376).
Cover: Gerard Malanga (ST200)
1. Paul America (ST4)
2. John Ashbery (ST13)
3. Benedetta Barzini (ST17)
4. Timothy Baum (ST19)
5. Marisa Berenson (ST20)
6. Ted Benigan (ST22)
7. Ann Buchanan (ST34)
8. Debbie Caen (ST36)
9. Dan Cassidy (ST50)
10. Ronnie Cutrone (ST64)
11. Salvador Dalí (ST68)
12. Denis Deegan (ST73)
13. Edwin Denby (ST75)
14. Donovan (ST78)
15. Harry Fainlight (ST97)
16. Giangiacomo Feltrinelli (ST101)
17. Charles Henri Ford (ST105)
18. Ruth Ford (ST107)
19. Allen Ginsberg (ST115)
20. Piero Heliczer (ST135)
21. Freddy Herko (ST137)
22. Jane Holzer (ST144)
23. Ed Hood (ST150)
24. International Velvet (Susan Bottomly) (ST28)
25. Barbara Jannsen (ST165)
26. Paul Katz (ST174)
27. Sally Kirkland (ST181)
28. Kenneth Jay Lane (ST190)
29. Billy Linich (ST194)
30. Willard Maas (ST197)
31. Gerard Malanga (ST201)
32. Jonas Mekas (ST211)
33. Marie Menken (ST215)
34. Allen Midgette (ST217)
35. Paul Morrissey (ST226)
36. David Muiray (ST228)
37. Ivy Nicholson (ST235)
38. Nico (ST238)
39. Ondine (ST249)
40. Ron Padgett (ST251)
41. Ronna Page (ST252)
42. John Palmer (ST253)
43. Gino Piserchio (ST259)
44. Lou Reed (ST263)
45. Rene Ricard (ST276)
46. Barbara Rubin (ST286)
47. Phoebe Russell (ST288)
48. Francesco Scavullo (ST296)
49. Edie Sedgwick (ST308)
50. Harold Stevenson (ST328)
51. Ronald Tavel (ST336)
52. Chuck Wein (ST350)
53. John Wieners (ST351)
54. Mary Woronov (ST357)
 
1     Eighth Street Bookshop ad for Screen Tests/A Diary, Village Voice, April 20, 1967, Billy Rose Theatre Collection, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. »
2     Eugenia Sheppard, “Pop Art, Poetry, and Fashion,” New York Herald Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 3, 1965, 10. Warhol’s Flowers exhibition at Leo Castelli ran from November 21 through December 19, 1964. »
3     Wolf, Warhol, Poetry, and Gossip, 68–69 (see chap. 2, n. 14). A reproduction of the flyer for the December 16 reading at Leo Castelli appears on p. 67. »
4     Ibid., 70–74. »
5     Reva Wolf has explored the uses of appropriation in Malanga’s work more thoroughly in her chapter, “Artistic Appropriation and the Image of Poet as Thief,” in ibid., 81–123. »
6     See “Poems and Images of Death,” in Andy Warhol: Death and Disasters, exhibition catalogue (Houston: The Menil Collection and Houston Fine Arts Press, 1988), 24. Although this catalogue attributes the Thermofax poems to Malanga and Warhol, and to Billy Linich, who made the Thermofax images, Wolf reports that Malanga told her that Warhol and Name had little to do with the Thermofaxes (see Wolf, Warhol, Poetry, and Gossip, 172, n. 44). Linich (now known as Billy Name) told this author that he was usually the one who operated the Thermofax machine at the Factory, but that Malanga may have used it in 1965 when Linich was not there; e-mail to author, March 9, 2004. »
7     “Poetry Reading Review: Malanga, Warhol Consistent,” Cornell Daily Sun, May 4, 1966, Andy Warhol Scrapbook No. 9, AWM. »
8     Malanga, “From The Secret Diaries,” 278, 287, 288 (see chap. 2, n. 77). »
9     Wolf, “Collaboration,” 59; and notes 6–7 (see chap. 2, n. 376). »
10     Ibid., 65, 66, and note 30. According to Malanga, Geldzahler was “very insulted” by his exclusion from the book. »
11     The other Screen Tests bearing Malanga’s printing instructions are Paul America, John Ashbery, Ted Berrigan, Debbie Caen, Dan Cassidy, Denis Deegan, Harry Fainlight, Piero Heliczer, Freddy Herko, and David Murray. »
12     Screen Tests bearing typed labels include: John Ashbery, Timothy Baum, Ann Buchanan, Debbie Caen, Ronnie Cutrone, Salvador Dalí, Denis Deegan, Donovan, Harry Fainlight, Charles Henri Ford, Allen Ginsberg, Piero Heliczer, Freddy Herko, Jane Holzer, Ed Hood, Paul Katz, Kenneth Jay Lane, Billy Linich, Willard Maas, Paul Morrissey, David Murray, Ivy Nicholson, Nico, Ondine, Ronna Page, John Palmer, Lou Reed, Barbara Rubin, Phoebe Russell, Francesco Scavullo, Edie Sedgwick, Chuck Wein, Mary Woronov. It is possible that all Screen Tests selected for Screen Tests/A Diary originally bore these typed labels, some of which have since been lost. »
13     See Randy Bourscheidt (ST29), Dan Cassidy (ST49), Salvador Dalí (ST67), Bob Dylan (ST83), Sandra Hochman (ST138), Jane Holzer (ST148), Henry Rago (ST260), Ed Sanders (ST293), Edie Sedgwick (ST305), and Ingrid Superstar (ST332). The frame enlargement notated on Debbie Caen and Gerard Malanga (ST37) was reproduced on the flyer for Malanga’s reading of his “Debbie High School Drop-Out Poems” on January 31, 1966. »
14     Gerard Malanga, “Hustling for Army Health Razor Blades & Bomb Drop Yuk Yuk!” Aspen 1, no. 3 (December 1966). Screen Test images of the following people appear in this issue, identified with captions: John Ashbery, Gerard Malanga, Debbie Caen, Ted Berrigan, Dan Cassidy, Ingrid Superstar, David Murray, and Rene Ricard. »
15     Wolf, “Collaborations”, 66, note 34 (see chap. 2, n. 376). »
Appendix A: Screen Tests/A Diary
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