Translating Warhol for television: Andy Warhol’s America

This paper discusses the challenges inherent in translating Andy Warhol’s art for television, focusing on the treatment of Pink Race Riot [Red Race Riot] (1963)and The American Indian (Russell Means) (1976 –1977) for the 2022 BBC2 documentary Andy Warhol’s America. The role of the director and producer, the interviewees and archival selection are examined in terms of translation from the scripts and editing to the screen. The medium specificity of television is explored, drawing upon interviews with the programme’s creators. What happens in the compression of historical intricacies, political imperatives and art historical debates for the purpose of translation into moving image sequences? What becomes lost, gained, compromised, distorted, fragmented or transposed in the process?