Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again

2018

“Andy's work really goes to the heart of the matter of what it means to be a human being and what our potential is . . . It's the real deal.”—Jeff Koons

Hear from a range of contemporary artists, curators, and scholars speaking about iconic works on view. Contributors include Jeff Koons, Hank Willis Thomas, Deborah Kass, Peter Halley, Sasha Wortzel, and Richard Meyer.

Transcription: Factory Diary: David Bowie And Group At The Factory, September 14, 1971, 1971

Running time: 14 mins

David Bowie: If you'd like to take the camera back, I'd prefer to do something. Can I do something, Stan? [crosstalk] No. This is fun. Okay? 

Voice one: Oh, yeah, [unintelligible]

David Bowie: All right.

Voice one: [unintelligible] thirty-five-minute video [unintelligible] thirty-five minutes. 

[unintelligible]

David Bowie: That looks strange. I've done enough. Yeah, I have [unintelligible] 

Voice one: Oh, right on. You're gonna be on video.

Voice two: What?

Voice one: [unintelligible] [crosstalk] give him five minutes. Where are they? [crosstalk]

Voice three: [unintelligible] in this room for [crosstalk]

Michael: [unintelligible]

David Bowie: Hmm?

Michael: Can you do one of those poems?

David Bowie: No, I do know some of his poems. I don't know his very well. I really don't have anything to say.

Voice two: What [unintelligible] 

Michael: Don't have anything to say about what?

Voice two: Anything.

Michael: Anything, what's anything? Do you have anything to say? [crosstalk]

Voice two: No.

Michael: No? 

Voice two: [unintelligible]

Michael: You just cushion. 

Voice four: [unintelligible] just like S-A-M, and [crosstalk]

Michael: Do you have any cigarettes?

Voice five: No.

Michael: Do you know anyone who does?

David Bowie: Yeah, I got some cigarettes.

Michael: Oh, cool. 

Voice three: [unintelligible]

Michael: It's hard once you laugh.

Voice two: What?

Michael: I said, it's hard once you laugh.

Voice one: [unintelligible]

Michael: What?

Voice one: Why?

Michael: I don't know. I'm so distracted.

Voice three: [crosstalk] belonged to him.

Voice six: Okay.

Voice three: Something like Yoko Ono on the bottom too.

Voice six: Right [unintelligible]

Voice three: Is this your writing?

Voice six: [unintelligible]

Voice three: I can't live like [unintelligible] the ...

Voice six: The [unintelligible]?

Voice two: [unintelligible] [crosstalk]

Voice one: Thank you. [crosstalk] What's your name?

Michael: Michael.

Voice one: Michael? 

Michael: [unintelligible]

Voice one: Pardon?

Michael: [unintelligible] we have something to say without the microphone.

Voice one: I don't know. I just walked in. 

Michael: Is he spying on me? He might be spying on me. 

Voice seven: [unintelligible]

Michael: Yeah. [crosstalk] Yeah, maybe. Yeah, well, he loves me, and Barbra Streisand, and Ken Russell. We're his ... [unintelligible]

Voice seven: I have nothing to say today. [crosstalk]

Voice seven: All my stories drained out earlier today.

Voice one: Oh, did they? Which ones? [crosstalk]

Voice seven: Oh ... [unintelligible]

David Bowie: Passing time. May I record the passing of time.

Voice one: He looks like that Burroughs boy. That boy. You look like the [unintelligible] Not the boys near Andy. That boy that said he was Burroughs’s son. 

Voice two: Who?

Voice one: That boy who said he was William Burroughs’s son.

Voice two: [unintelligible]

Voice one: Doesn't he look a bit like him?

Voice two: Yeah.

David Bowie: I look like Lauren Bacall I think. 

Voice four: [unintelligible]

Voice seven: Come on, let's stay for a while.

Voice eight: Andy, [unintelligible] [crosstalk]

Voice four: Andy [unintelligible] [crosstalk]

Voice six: Okay. Okay, all right. Okay. Thursday. Wednesday. Okay. Okay. 

Voice eight: All right [unintelligible]

Voice six: Oh, I thought I'd given it to you last time. But I gave it you it earlier. Yeah, no, I did. Yeah, I just happened to give it it to you a little earlier. Oh, okay, goodbye.

Voice three: And, you know, I'm thinking when you could give me for twenty wasn't right, because there are twelve in a pack. It costs twenty-four. So this time he only gave me ten, and he'll forget the last time. [crosstalk]

Voice seven: George. I paid 6.95 for it.

David Bowie: You what? You paid 6.95 for it?

Voice seven: Yeah, if you buy English records here, they cost seven dollars here. 

David Bowie: Jesus Christ, that's a lot of money. I picked up a Lenny Bruce for two dollars the other day. I thought that was the average. I only bought that. And I bought-

Voice seven: I got ... paid seven dollars Sid Barrett's album, because you can't get those here either. David Bowie: Sid's album. Oh, you like Sid, do you?

Voice seven: Yeah. 

David Bowie: He's one of my favorite writers. Do you know Kevin Ayers?

Voice seven: No.

David Bowie: Oh, Kevin Ayers and the Whole World you should listen to. They're fabulous.

Voice seven: Is he on ... ?

David Bowie: I don't know what label he's on. They're a band that play around London. They're seven dollars here. I got a ... of course in Italian [unintelligible] was seven dollars and you learn it in six weeks. 

Voice seven: Oh, yeah?

David Bowie: Yeah, and they got four albums in there. There's no reason why they should be [unintelligible]

Voice seven: Does your record album ... on an American label, or anything like that?

David Bowie: It will come out on RCA I suppose. What? The new one?

Voice seven: Yeah.

David Bowie: No, it'll come out in October or something.

Voice nine: Are you going to Italy?

David Bowie: Am I going to what?

Voice nine: Italy.

David Bowie: Am I going to Italy? If I can. I want to buy some clothes over there. 

Voice nine: [unintelligible] 

David Bowie: I'm gonna try.

Voice nine: [unintelligible]

Voice ten: Yeah, I lived in Rome for three years [crosstalk] Yeah, I can teach you some very, you know, really simple things. You going to Rome?

David Bowie: [unintelligible]

Voice ten: Yeah, I lived there for three years.

David Bowie: Do you know ... Have you been to London? 

Voice ten: Yeah.

David Bowie: Do you know Freddy?

Voice ten: Freddy who?

David Bowie: Freddy Barrett.

Voice ten: No.

David Bowie: No? I call him Rudy Valentino [unintelligible] sometimes I recorded him. I tried to record him. Well, I sing actually, and we say it's him. You know? He's a designer and he spends a lot of time being taken to Italy and bringing back ideas and fashions. I thought you might know him.

Voice ten: [unintelligible] Paul Newman

David Bowie: Maybe. It's difficult to say. 

Voice ten: Pauline.

David Bowie: Oh, that Paul. Oh, that Paul ... I don't know [unintelligible] [crosstalk]

Voice six: I'm working on that now. 

Voice eleven: Yeah.

Voice six: We're just working on that now. So just-

Voice eleven: Finishing it.

Voice six: Yeah.

Voice eleven: Bringing it in.

Voice six: We're still behind. We're just doing them all, and so-

Voice eleven: Where do you do all your editing and stuff.

Voice six: Well, we rented a place in the country, so that nobody can ... You know, when people come here, it's just so hard to [unintelligible] come down. And so, we just do it out there and ... So they've finished two already. So they're working on the [unintelligible]

Voice eleven: Do you edit most of your own stuff?

Voice six: No, we have somebody ... that does it. Somebody that works with us for a long time [unintelligible]

Voice eleven: Come on, Davey. We should make a move. 

David Bowie: Yeah, we should. Maybe you want to come back, because we took only a short trip to find out who's gonna do the next album for us.

Voice eleven: Are you leaving?

David Bowie: Hmm?

Voice eleven: You're leaving?

David Bowie: We have to leave, yeah. We have to leave now, and we have to leave America in a day. And tomorrow's like that, because we ... everything was already booked up before we came. People to see, and places to do ... be in, and ...

Voice eleven: What time? Next [unintelligible]

Voice six: He'll be in for ... when he comes back, or this week or something for the magazine.

Voice eleven: Yeah. What time [unintelligible]

Voice ten: [unintelligible] what they had for Thursday, and then Thursday night we'll go. And then we'll be back in ... I should think about the second week in November we'll be back. [unintelligible]

David Bowie: In the second week of November. 

Voice eleven: Will we have time to do it this week, or ... ? So we have audition coming up and ... 

Voice five: Possibly tomorrow we could do sometime tomorrow afternoon. [crosstalk]

Voice six: [unintelligible]

Voice five: All right, maybe we'll do that.

Voice six: Okay. 

Voice five: Come on then. Get the rest of my sorted [unintelligible] 

Voice twelve: We have to go. 

Voice three: They're casting for [unintelligible] in one of the bins of trash. The [unintelligible] 

Voice thirteen: That doesn't pick up the look on my face. 

Voice fourteen: You bitches [unintelligible] 

David Bowie: Bye, bye. 

Voice thirteen: Bye. 

Speaker seventeen: [unintelligible] 

Voice one: What's your name again?

Voice thirteen: [unintelligible]

Voice one: [unintelligible] 

Voice thirteen: Yeah, [unintelligible]

Voice one: Yeah. 

Voice fifteen: Have you heard of [unintelligible]? Who was he.

Voice sixteen: I think he's the first ... drag rock and roll star. 

Voice fifteen: What's his name?

Voice sixteen: David Bowie.

Voice fifteen: David Bowie? 

Voice sixteen: Yeah. His record is pretty good. He's a pretty good singer, but he performs in these like, 40s satin flowing dresses, you know?

0:00

0:00


On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Frank WANG Yefeng, The Levitating Perils #2

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

On the Hour projects can contain motion and sound. To respect your accessibility settings autoplay is disabled.