Broken Hallelujah

'He created his own universe and became its star'

Director David Cronenberg explains the debt he owes to Andy Warhol's bizarre and chillingly prophetic work

Empire is the classic. It was outrageous - yet somehow it worked. An eight-hour shot of the Empire State Building, it was high concept, not in the Hollywood sense, but the art sense. It's got potency, resonance. Andy even said the Empire State Building was a star. It's so New York, which was the centre of the artistic universe at the time, the 1960s. That's why I decided to begin the Andy Warhol show I am curating with Empire.

Andy Warhol Supernova: Stars, Deaths and Disasters, 1962-64, curated by David Cronenberg, is at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Canada, until October 22. Details: 001 416 979 6648 or Ago.net.

Guardian Unlimited Arts | Arts features | David Cronenberg: on Andy Warhol

Is there anyone who could film something similar to an eight-hour shot of the Empire State Building and present it as art today? Probably not.