Exploding Plastic Inevitable

The Exploding Plastic Inevitable (originally known as the Erupting Plastic Inevitable and later known as Plastic Inevitable or EPI), was a series of multimedia gesamtkunstwerk events organized by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey in 1966 and 1967. Combining live rock music, experimental film, dance, and light projections, the performances became closely associated with the experimental rock group the Velvet Underground and are regarded as a pioneering influence on psychedelic and multimedia performance art.

The Exploding Plastic Inevitable (originally known as the Erupting Plastic Inevitable and later known as Plastic Inevitable or EPI), was a series of multimedia gesamtkunstwerk events organized by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey in 1966 and 1967. Combining live rock music, experimental film, dance, and light projections, the performances became closely associated with the experimental rock group the Velvet Underground and are regarded as a pioneering influence on psychedelic and multimedia performance art. ==Background== In 1963, Pop artist Andy Warhol participated in an avant-garde musical project known as the Druds alongside Patty Mucha, Lucas Samaras, Jasper Johns, Walter De Maria, La Monte Young, and Larry Poons. Although short-lived, the project reflected Warhol's early interest in experimental music and performance. Warhol later recalled that filmmaker Barbara Rubin "was one of the first people to get multimedia interest going around New York," noting that she frequently brought musicians such as Donovan and the Byrds to the Factory. Rubin introduced him to the Velvet Underground through his assistant Gerard Malanga at Café Bizarre in December 1965. Rubin filmed the audience using bright "sun gun" lights and repeatedly asking spectators, "Are you uptight?" Warhol recalled that the venue's management was dissatisfied with the Velvet Underground because their music was "way too loud and insane for any tourist coffeehouse clientele," and the group was close to being dismissed from the club. After the performance, Warhol and filmmaker Paul Morrissey invited the band to visit the Factory and began discussing possible collaborations. At the time, Warhol and Morrissey had also been approached by a producer planning to convert a large Long Island film studio into a discotheque tentatively titled Murray the K's World. Morrissey envisioned establishing a resident "house band" and considered the Velvet Underground a suitable choice. Warhol also paired the Velvet Underground with the German singer and model Nico, who had recently arrived in New York. ==Legacy== In December 1966, Warhol included a one-off magazine called The Plastic Exploding Inevitable as part of the Aspen No. 3 package. Additionally, Warhol's lights engineer Danny Williams pioneered many innovations that later became standard practice in psychedelic liquid light shows and subsequently rave culture. In 1966, from May 27–29 the EPI played the Fillmore in San Francisco, where Williams built a light show including stroboscopes, slides and film projections onstage. At Bill Graham's request he was soon to come back and build more. ==References==

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