The generations that grew up with the old school Nintendo gaming experience will particularly enjoy this interactive zoomable map of New York City created by Brett Camper that mimics the look and feel of the 8-bit video games from that era. Camper explains:

8-bit NYC is an attempt to make the city feel foreign yet familiar, smashing together two culturally common models of space: the lo-fi overhead world maps of 1980s role-playing and adventure games, and the geographically accurate data that drives today’s web maps and GPS navigation. I hope to evoke the same urge for exploration, abstract sense of scale, and perhaps most importantly excitement that many of us remember experiening on the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Commodore 64, or any other number of 8-bit microcomputers.

He’s absolutely right. Looking and playing with the map makes me want to grab a sword and shield and collect the pieces of the Triforce before Link can get to them.

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In the MoMA’s Atrium Marina Abramovic sits at a wooden table dressed in a high-necked, long-sleeved navy blue dress that gathers in a pool of fabric at her feet. She’s lit on all sides by 5ks – big, bright, hot lights. Her face is serene and statuesque, her gaze completely focused, and you’re welcome to take the chair on the other side of the table and sit with her for as long as you like.

Meanwhile the rest of her retrospective, “The Artist is Present,” is happening upstairs, and really, it’s a happening. Far more than pictures on a wall in a series of white rooms, there’s an energy and ‘aliveness’ to Abramovic’s work. No doubt this has a lot to do with the bevy of reperformers who recreate some of her more famous performances throughout the exhibition and whose nakedness seems to titillate everyone in the room. The famous entrance, for example, the narrow space between the two naked sentries through which one must pass in order to get to the rest of the exhibit, has visitors scratching their beards. Mostly, I think, because MoMA has democratically provided a second entrance without a clothing optional policy, and so visitors have to make a decision. “If I go through the second entrance, am I a wimp or a prude?” or “If I go through the first, which way do I face?” Once on the other side I watched an older woman slip through the two bodies and do a little victory dance.

It’s a fitting introduction to Abramovic’s work, which is less about putting on a show for a seated audience and more about physical, tangible human interaction and emotional transference. If this sounds like performance art mumbo jumbo to you, consider Abramovic’s total commitment to her work and her unbelievable discipline. During some performances, especially those that last several days, she fasts and doesn’t speak, as in “The House With Ocean View,” the 2002 piece in which she lived in a NY gallery for 12 days and was on view to the public for all of her daily functions.

Abramovic doesn’t show up and give a performance and then go home to her normal life. The performance is her life and her life is the performance. In fact there’s a good chance that as you’re reading this she’s sitting in MoMA looking into a stranger’s face, never breaking her gaze. And when you finish reading and go on to something else, when you’re at work and when you go home afterwards and eat your dinner, she’ll still be there. And if at any point you’re not sure, you can even watch her. It’s a commitment to her art that is admittedly tiring to watch but thrilling to witness, and if you accept her invitation to participate in it with her it’s an experience that cannot be put into words, which is, of course, her intention.

Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present at MoMA until May 31, 2010.

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Mattel is set to release four new Barbies ($75 each!) based on characters from Mad Men this coming July to coincide with the start of the show’s fourth season. There’s main character Don Drapper and his soulless wife Betty, company head Roger Sterling and his one-time mistress and office manager extraordinaire, Joan Holloway. While Mattel chose to leave out the “inappropriate,” sinful accessories like martinis, packs of Lucky Strike, and silk panties in suit pockets that are ever-present on the show, it’s still a bold choice for the company to celebrate such a debauched group of alcoholic adulterers. But then again, Barbie was created in 1959, right around the time Mad Men takes place — a time when women were expected to simply look pretty and shut up, make a nice home, and expect their husbands to cheat. So maybe this licensing agreement is not so bold, maybe it’s just eerily perfect.

By the way, what’s up with the anorexic Joan doll? More “appropriateness”? We’re pretty sure the Barbies we owned as kids had bigger boobs than this one! If creator and stickler for details Matthew Weiner insisted the Don doll’s sideburns be higher and his hair shorter, then couldn’t he have insisted on putting a little meat on the Joan doll’s bones?

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photo from New York Times article

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Post Oscar hangovers are never fun… Trust. I’ve been covering them for 10 years! But this year was different. Not so bad. Even though – let’s be honest, seven days into a nine day LA journey, you are ready to run for the hills, and by hills, I mean Appalachian, eastern hills. Unfortunately, the sad reality set in when I left Rainy LA for monsoon-y New York. I mean… Okay, okay. I got two good days of beautiful spring weather before my boots were soaked and once again I had to forsake fashion for Tretorn rain galoshes.

But besides being mildewed – things are still… interesting! Last Tuesday, I had a Sundance reunion of sorts with my idol and treasure, Joan Rivers. No, really! I did a radio demo pilot for Sirius XM, and she agreed to be my guest. “How could I not after what you wrote about my movie (JOAN RIVERS — A PIECE OF WORK) at Sundance?” she asked. She rocks my world. So she was my guest. We went on for like 45 minutes on men, life and Hollywood. She loves George Clooney – who knew? “I won’t hear a bad word about him,” she said. I think it’s because he actually has a sense of humor as opposed to, say, a Nicole Kidman. Then Joan’s assistant Jocelyn had to pull her away for another meeting. BUT – and this rocks my world – I got invited to Passover “at Melissa’s house – we’re doing it in LA this year.” OH HELL YES! I’m actually going to be in LA for Passover this year – don’t ask. It involves Karl, the wonder dachshund, the show “Extra” and a yenta. That’s all I’ll say–for now.

But things do continue to take a turn for the weird. A good pal of mine, Michael Hirschhorn, called. He’s producing a TV show about Foxxy Brown – you know, the rapper who beats up her manicurist? Apparently, today at 4 I’m going to go see if I can “speak truth” to Foxxy – because 1. She needs it and 2. When I worked at Page Six I did it before (as in, “No, Foxxy, you did hit her. I don’t care what you say you think happened  – this actually happened. Just look at the police report. No, I don’t believe you are being railroaded. The hospital said the same thing. Can I get a comment?”). Now, I like Foxxy – when she’s not pissed off she’s faaabulous. But, not unlike, Naomi Campbell, you got to be on your guard. So I think I’ll bring Karl for protection (don’t laugh – he will go for the Achilles heel and while you’re writhing on the ground in pain, attack at the throat! Or at least, he does in my “Karl is the best most fabulous guard dog ever” dreams) – and a helmet. You can never be too careful with shit like this, you know.

So, I’m off. Into the rain. Again. The last time I lived through so much rain, I lived in England and had to go to India for six months to dry out. Im just sayin’…

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Just came across several interesting tidbits on green-themed documentary films currently in the works, so thought I’d share them all at one time.

• Crowd funding green films: Tree Media Group, which produced THE 11TH HOUR with Leonardo DiCaprio, is trying out a different mechanism for raising money for two planned documentaries: crowd funding. If you check out the sites for URBAN ROOTS, which follows the growth of urban farming in Detroit, or INTO EDEN, which explores environmental crisis from the perspective of human consciousness, you’ll see NPR-like fund raising appeals. This is a model that’s currently being tried for all sorts of media — Spot.us is a great example of crowd funding for  journalism, for instance — so we’ll be interested to see how well this works.
  
  
• 1% for the Planet comes to film: Just found out about this one this morning — 1% for the Planet, an organization that encourages companies to earmark one percent of their sales for environmental causes, is finishing up its film 1% OF THE STORY. Billed as “…a collection of short profiles of One Percent member companies,” viewers will hear stories of both small companies (i.e. Sweetpea Bicycles) and big players (i.e. musician Jack Johnson… see the video above).  The film will be released online, with a limited DVD run. This is only one element of media efforts for the organization: they’ve also released an album of music… and held an event at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival promoting it.
  
  

Know of other news of upcoming green documentaries? Share it with us…

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San Francisco-based artist Dan Kenneally’s “Lunch Box” collection is a series of 18” x 18” acrylic abstract paintings where each sandwich’s ingredients are stripped down to their most fundamental. And yet they still look delicious, especially the ice cream sandwich.

[Via]

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The world went crazy the other day over the release of Lady Gaga’s video for “Telephone.” It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is insane. Everyone, haters and lovers alike, can agree that video is nuts. Bananas. Nuts and bananas.

I think that Gaga’s talent as a musician is often overshadowed by her costumes. And shoes. And wigs. And lit-cigarette sunglasses. It is hard sometimes to notice she actually sings. And writes. And plays instruments. Thankfully Buzzfeed found these 5 diverse and incredible versions of Gaga’s Telephone. They’re all different styles. The closest to the original, by the band Alphabeat, who are opening up for Gaga in Europe, is my favorite. I think it bests Gaga’s. The other five are all worth checking out too.

[ Via ]

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Craig Gleason has been doctoring George in the likeness of Lady Gaga and the results are fantastic. One could say that I’m absolutely gaga over them. View more here and you can buy them at Craig’s (slightly NSFW) blog.

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Cristina Mortágua has just posed topless. That wouldn’t be that big a deal–except the photo also features her being embraced by her fifteen year old son. Is this toeing the line towards incest–or is it just something us prudes should get over and accept as art? [globo.com]

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Dublin-based creative ad agency Boys and Girls put together this sweet conference table using LEGO bricks (22,742 total). View more photos here and check out a time lapse Making-of video after the jump.

[Via]

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