The Plank Panel watch 13 Most Beautiful

Hanging with the hipster are:

*Maryse Zeidler:* who tries to be hip, but in the process just tries too hard and comes across as a flake
*Rachel Scott:* who once was hip, but then moved to Vancouver and has had to start from scratch

Who took in *13 Most Beautiful... Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests*, part of the ongoing "PuSh Festival":http://pushfestival.ca/index.php?mpage=home

*Maryse:* I finally got one! I finally got to see one of those PuSh hidden gems. OK, so maybe attending a show along with 1000 other people doesn’t make it that hidden, but it certainly was precious.

Here’s the background: while he wasn’t busy rearranging soup cans, Andy Warhol filmed over 300 “screen tests”- four minute shots of gorgeous, aloof men and women. The shots are unedited and starkly lit.

The more specific inspiration for *13 Most Beautiful… Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests* came from a conceptual sub-series Warhol went on to present called _Thirteen Most Beautiful Women_ and _Thirteen Most Beautiful Boys_. That comes out at 13 x 4 minutes = 52 minutes, or roughly the length of your average album, and the perfect length of time for this type of show. The duo known as Dean and Britta (formerly of Luna) come in as an obvious match for the project. Their sardonic, wistful music is inspired by the Velvet Underground, who would occasionally perform live during Warhol installations back in the day.

The result? A dreamy, ironic and iconic show that attracted hipsters like nerds to a Star Trek convention. I don’t think the Vogue has seen that many pairs of horn-rimmed glasses in eons, especially since it’s been closed and under new ownership since January 2006. I don’t know how the PuSh Festival managed to get a show in there, but man, oh man… what a perfect venue. Watching Andy Warhol screen tests to the sound of space-age alt pop in a closed down art deco theatre isn’t something this Vancouverite gets to indulge in very often, and it certainly made me feel as though I was part of something special. Hence the hidden gem effect, I suppose.

*Rachel: * I have to admit that I did feel uber-hip. And, unlike you, I wasn’t familiar with Dean and Britta. There was something so fantastically appropriate about their music. The “dream pop sensibility” of their music perfectly bridged the gap between the 60’s and today. The curators of the Andy Warhol Museum wrote that they wanted to “illuminate the unwavering relevancy of an artist” and I think that the music really did re-contextualize these pieces. I felt as if the screen tests were immediately accessible, and the music was a huge part of that.

*Maryse:* Each of the screen tests had its own unique personality, but the common denominator was undoubtedly the beauty and nonchalant nature of all the subjects. These were blond babes with thick, dark eyeliner and full lips; men with sunglasses on, smoking cigarettes and licking their lips.

Furthermore, each Dean and Britta’s music was a ideal match to each screen test. From a wonderful rendition of Bob Dylan’s _I’ll Keep It with Mine_ for Nico, to _Eyes in my Smoke)_ for the darling Ingrid Superstar, and _Not a Young Man Anymore_ for Lou Reed, the music provided a perfect aural accompaniment to these blasé babes.

*Rachel:* I have to disagree about the nonchalance. Yes, they were “cool” and some were “cooler” than others. But the task of simply being in front of the camera was very revealing. Even the super cool cats like Billy Name and Lou Reed (who both wore sunglasses the whole time) seemed vulnerable. I felt like the less the actors tried to do, the more they revealed about themselves. My least favorite pieces were the ones that actually felt the most performed. Nico and Dennis Hopper both seemed to be acting, and I felt like that actually diminished my connection to their work...or, um, whatever it was they were doing. Did you have a favorite?

*Maryse:* If I had to pick one, it would be Jane Holzer, the poster girl for *13 Most Beautiful…*, who just brushed her teeth for four minutes. I can’t believe I’ve never thought of this routine, hygienic act as the obviously erotic metaphor that it is. That’s four minutes of teeth brushing, folks!

*Rachel:* Oh, she was just outrageously sexy. And I think it take more concentration than we might give these actors credit for just “being” for four minutes in front of a camera.

However, I think my favorite was Edie Sedgwick. Her vulnerability was breathtaking. Here she is, an over made up starlet who looks like she’s ready for the silver screen. But I felt as if I was looking through this mask of cool to see this scared little girl underneath.

What I also really loved were those moments at the end of the reel when the lighting would change. For the most part, the lighting was stark and the actors were frequently cast in shadow. In some of the pieces, like Susan Bottomly, the actors were almost entirely obscured in darkness. But at the end of the film, the lighting would overexpose for a moment and there would be these other facets of the actor that were suddenly illuminated. It was like catching a glimpse of something unexpected.

Something else that I loved were the little snippets of information that Dean would throw in about the subjects: “She’s no longer with us. She went out for a pack of smokes and never came back.” Hearing about who was still alive and who was not was a startling reminder that these tests were filmed forty years ago and that we were looking back into time at pretty young things in their prime. It was a poignant reminder of the fleeting nature of youth and beauty. And can we talk about those names? “International Velvet.” “Baby Jane Holzer.” “Paul America.” “Ingrid Superstar.” These crazy names are just so resonant of this wild pop era. I’m not that familiar with pop culture, but in watching this show I felt closer to what it must have been like. I had a glimpse into being uber-hip.

_13 Most Beautiful... Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests (New York), Dean and Britta, performed on January 30, at the Vogue Theatre. For more information, check this "out":http://pushfestival.ca/index.php?mpage=shows, man._