Courtesy of Washington and Lee University News Director Sarah Tschiggfrie, an item arrived in my Inbox about students reproducing Andy Warhol’s “screen tests,” in which the maestro of pop culture strangeness asked people to simply stare into a camera for several minutes. It looks like a fun project.

The student project is intended to tie in a to joint exhibit in 2012 using Warhol photographs donated to W&L, Roanoke College and Hollins University.

The full story on the W&L website can be found by clicking here and here’s a link to the original Andy Warhol screen tests.

Below, I’ve included a snippet from the article and a video of some of the tests. — MikeA

“Bring a prop, wear a hat, or come up with your own way of portraying your personality on video,” declare posters inviting students, faculty and employees to take part in The Warhol Screen Test Project at Washington and Lee University.

W&L’s Student Arts League is spearheading the project as part of a forthcoming three-part exhibition of Andy Warhol’s work at Washington and Lee, Roanoke College and Hollins University in 2012. The three institutions were among the 180 across the country to receive Warhol photographs from the Warhol Foundation in 2008.

“This project is very exciting because it invites the entire W&L community to participate in an art work that explores the ideas set forth by one of the most important artists of the 20th century,” said Clover Archer Lyle, director of W&L’s Staniar Gallery.

Warhol created hundreds of film portraits of individuals he called “screen tests,” inviting them to sit in front of a neutral background and look into a video camera for several minutes. “I was actually unaware of Warhol’s screen tests until Clover approached the Student Arts League about doing our one-minute version of them,” said Emily Rigamer, president of the league and a senior art history major with a minor in museum studies. “After looking at his work, I think it’s very artistic and a really interesting study of human nature and how different people react when they’re in front of a camera.”

Click here to read the rest.