A black and white film still of the Empire State Building illuminated at night from an Andy Warhol film.
Andy Warhol, John Palmer, Empire (1964). Collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

In celebration of the 60th anniversary of Empire, the Andy Warhol Empire State Building film, the Museum of Modern Art is screening the eight-hour cinematic masterpiece on the 80th floor of the skyscraper.

Visitors to the famed Art Deco landmark’s observatory floor will be able to watch the 1964 film upon arriving to its 80th-floor exhibition hall at any time on July 25 through 28. Empire consists entirely of a single stationary shot of the Empire State Building as seen by night, over a six-and-a-half-hour period. (The footage plays in slow motion.)

“As enigmatic and inspiring as its namesake point of focus, Andy Warhol’s Empire is a monument to the epic innovations of New York’s artists and filmmakers,” Rajendra Roy, MoMA’s chief curator of film, said in a statement. “An essential work in MoMA’s collection, this film changed the way we experience cinema. Time, movement, and drama all find new meaning in Empire.”

The Library of Congress added Empire to the National Film Registry of historically significant films in 2004. It also takes as its subject one of the most instantly recognizable buildings in all of history.

The Empire State Building. Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images.

Completed in 1931, the Empire State Building was the world’s tallest skyscraper until 1970, when it was eclipsed by the World Trade Center. In 1964, for the occasion of the World’s Fair, the building’s famed “crown” was illuminated by flood lights for the first time—an innovation that made Empire possible.

The silent, black-and-white film starts at sunset, the building slowly fading into darkness until the lights suddenly switch on. Warhol shot the footage from the 41st floor of the Time-Life Building at 51st Street and 6th Avenue, in the offices of the Rockefeller Foundation. The film ends in total darkness, with the spotlights off for the night.

Warhol was pushing the boundaries of cinema with the piece, with its distinct lack of characters or narrative. Instead, Empire becomes a rumination on the passage of time.

The Pop artist directed the film with John Palmer, a young filmmaker who helped conceive the concept and fund the production. Cinematography was by Jonas Mekas, the noted avant-garde filmmaker and founder of New York’s Anthology Film Archives.

“Andy Warhol: Empire” will be on view at the Empire State Building, 20 West 34th Street, July 25–28, 2024.