Art as spectator sport: As Maggie, our intrepid NYC correspondent for the ECP blog, writes about Jeffrey Deitch’s new reality-tv show Artstar, NEWSgrist reports on the Iron Chef of art–Iron Artist, a joint project of Cabinet and P.S.1. Based on the Japanese competitive cooking show, the event includes two 45-minute art duels. The first two battles pit Jude Tallichet against Olav Westphalen and Big Room (Julian Laverdiere and Vincent Mazeau) against Type A (Adam Ames and Andrew Bordwin); they must create an art object in real time using materials on hand. Commentators, including our pal (and MASSMoCA curator) Nato Thompson, give play-by-play color, and critics will write on the resulting works, which will also go on display at P.S. 1.
RTMarking the Golden Arches: Agit-art group RTMark has struck again. In Yes Men-esque style, they posed as a representative of “McDonald’s Interactive” at a video game convention in the UK, announcing that their division was breaking away from the parent company because “We can no longer stand by while McDonald’s corporate policies help lead the planet to ruin.” After creating a free fast-food simulator/game (McMarketplace), they concluded that “Abrupt Social Change,” not merely “ethical consumerism,” could drastically improve the company’s environmental impact. See the full Powerpoint presentation here.
Truly Monumento: The Bellagio fountains recreated with Mentos mints and spouting Diet Coke.