It's hard to imagine Andy Warhol slumming it at Oxegen. It's appropriate, then, that an upcoming music and art festival celebrating the late US artist is to take place at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Imma) in less-than-mucky Kilmainham.
Some Days Never End, which will run during the last week of October, promises an esoteric bill to satisfy the most demanding of hipsters - without any risk of ruining those loafers.
The festival pays tribute to Warhol's Silver Factory, a New York studio space decorated in silver foil and paint. During the 1960s, the studio became the centre of much collaboration between artists working in various fields. The boundaries between music, art and film melted and new ideas of what it means to be an artist began to emerge. The Factory attracted the likes of Bob Dylan Alan Ginsberg and Dennis Hopper, as well as a large cast of hangers-on.
Three tented structures will be pitched in the grounds at Imma for the Some Days festival. The first will be a venue for an eclectic range of musical acts, ranging from trad groups to British rappers. The second will function as a gallery space, while the third will provide d and drink (although not, alas, Campbell's soup).
The most obvious Warhol-inspired billing is John Cale, who will play with his Acoustimatic Band. As a founding member of the Velvet Underground, the Welshman participated in the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, a series of multimedia events organised by Warhol in 1967 and 1968. Another Warholian connection is the Pet Shop Boys, who have long worn their pop-art hearts on their sleeves.
The remaining acts are more notable for their diversity than their links to 20th-century artistic innovators. The bill includes something for those who like their music funky (Groove Armada and Dizzee Rascal, October 25th), sleepy (José González and Duke Special, October 26), rootsy (Buena Vista Social Club and , October 30th) or rocky (The Frames, October 31st).
Running at the same time as this aural action will be a number of films by Warhol and others. Sarah Glennie, who is curating this aspect of the festival, believes that the viewing space reflects the origins of the films. "It's reflects that idea that a lot of these films came out of a very multimedia environment," she explains. "In recreating the Factory, you have all these kind of ways of working coming together in one space. The films were used as backdrops to many of the performances that were happening as part of the EPI, so it was a multimedia experience.
"A lot of the films are very concept-driven and durational, ideas like 'I'm gonna film someone asleep overnight'. The films were intended to be seen as fragments, so at the festival you can sit and watch the film for 10 minutes and you can return later and see another 20 minutes."
Andy, it can only be assumed, would have dug it.
Some Days Never Endtakes place in the grounds of Imma, Kilmainham, Dublin 8 from next Tuesday until November 3rd. www.somedaysneverend.com Dizzee Rascal is interviewed in tomorrow's Weekend Review with The Irish Times
