An Empire State of Mind

This afternoon I will be participating in “The Empire Tweets Back,” a program sponsored by MoMA and WNYC attendant with MoMA’s recently opened exhibition Andy Warhol: Motion Pictures. The premise is this: a series of writers provide live running commentary on Twitter during a marathon screening of Warhol’s 8-hour film “Empire,” which is basically one very, very, very long shot of America’s favorite skyscraper, the Empire State Building. Holding down the fort for every last frame (excepting bathroom breaks) will be WNYC’s Liz Arnold (@wnycculture) and Caroline Miranda (@cmonstah). I’ll be joining them from 2:30–3:30 in the afternoon, to talk specifically about the building and its place in New York architectural history. Of course you’re welcome to join the conversation, either in person or online (use the Twitter hashtag #empirefilm). You can follow me at @marklamster.

The full schedule of commentators, and a bit of what we’ll be commenting about:

10:30-6:30: Liz Arnold (@wnycculture) and Caroline Miranda (@cmonstah), your hosts
11:00-12:00: Viktor Samra (@MuseumModernArt) on the exhibition, generally
12:20-1:30: Bryan Waterman (@_waterman), on the ESB in the literature of NY
2:30-3:30: Mark Lamster (@marklamster) on the architecture of the ESB
4:30-5:30: Robin Cembalest (@artnewsmag) and Hrag Vartanian (@hyperallergic) on Warhol’s artistic legacy

For fun, a still from the most iconic of ESB films, King Kong.