the standard speed for sound films, it is projected at the slower rate of 16 fps, an older standard for silent films. Warhol put together an ad hoc soundtrack by having a radio play softly from a cinema balcony. However, he discontinued this practice after the first few screenings. In 1964, La Monte Young provided a loud minimalist drone soundtrack to Sleep when shown as small TV-sized projections at the entrance lobby to the third New York Film Festival held at Lincoln Center. Release Sleep premiered on January 17, 1964, presented by Jonas Mekas, at the Gramercy Arts Theater in New York City as a fundraiser for the Film-Makers' Cooperative. Of the nine people who attended the premiere, two left during the first hour. Critics Jonas Mekas and Archer Winsten were in the audience, as well as Paul Morrissey, a friend of the projectionist Ken Jacobs; Morrissey later became a frequent collaborator with Warhol. When the Cinema Theatre in Los Angeles held a surprise screening of Sleep later in the year, audience members shouted at the screen and threatened to riot. Images from the film appear in later artworks by Warhol. His 1965 sculpture Large Sleep uses two successive frames from the film, arranged vertically on a sheet of plexiglass. Another plexiglass sculpture uses three successive frames of Sleep, silkscreened in black ink, with a red image silkscreened on the other side. This work is now lost. Reception Film Culture voted to award Warhol its Independent Film Award for Sleep, Haircut, Eat, Kiss, and Empire. Commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Warhol's Sleep, Finnish filmmaker Juha Lilja created a remake of the film. See also Andy Warhol filmography Blue Movie (1969) – Warhol film Eat (1964) – Warhol film Kiss (1963) – Warhol film List of American films of 1964 List of longest films by running time References External links Sleep at Warhol Stars My 15 Minutes - John Giorno about his appearance in Sleep 1960s avant-garde and experimental films 1964 films American avant-garde and experimental films American black-and-white films American silent feature films Films about sleep Films directed by Andy Warhol Non-narrative films One-character films 1960s American films