reality hacking - The Art of the Prank

August 12, 2013December 15, 2023

Breaking Bad: The Middle School Musical

‘Breaking Bad: The Middle School Musical’ Geniuses Rhett & Link Talk Going Viral
by Kevin Fallon
The Daily Beast
August 11, 2013

Always wanted to see 11-year-old sing about cooking meth? Meet Rhett & Link, the viral video gurus who brought the dream to life.

We”ve all had that awkward experience. You file into a suburban middle school”s auditorium for your 11-year-old cousin”s production of Grease, squirming uncomfortably as little Timmy sings about Greased Lightning being a “real pussy wagon” and the prepubescent tween girl playing Rizzo belts a ballad about teenage pregnancy and sexual regret.

Now imagine if those kids were singing about cooking meth. Or, excuse me, “rock candy.”

That precise idea””the cringe-comedy of children earnestly performing age-inappropriate theater material””is behind the hit viral video Breaking Bad: The Middle School Musical. Created by viral video gurus Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal (better known as “Rhett & Link”), this is the latest in their original Middle School Musical series, which also includes Star Trek and Superman entries. Continue reading “Breaking Bad: The Middle School Musical”

September 22, 2012December 15, 2023

Tatzu Nishi’s Room With a View

At His Penthouse, a Tàªte-à -Tàªte With Columbus
Tatzu Nishi”s “˜Discovering Columbus” Installation
By Roberta Smith
New York Times
September 21, 2012

“Discovering Columbus,” at Columbus Circle, is on view through Nov. 18. Free timed tickets are available at publicartfund.org.

View more photos here.

If you”ve ever wanted to see what the city”s pre-eminent statue of Christopher Columbus looks like standing on a large coffee table in an upscale New York living room with killer views, now is your chance. Under the auspices of the Public Art Fund, the Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi has built a convincingly appointed penthouse-worthy space around the 13-foot-high marble sculpture of Columbus that has presided over Columbus Circle from a height of 60 feet since it was completed by Gaetano Russo in 1892. In doing so, Mr. Nishi has achieved a nifty bit of Surrealist displacement without moving the sculpture an inch “” albeit not quite as nifty as I”d hoped.

To see the work, “Discovering Columbus,” visitors need only procure a free timed ticket, sign a release, climb six flights of stairs and enter the white windowed box that has been built around the figure. It”s a structure that from the outside looks like a pristine outtake from a mansion, albeit one supported by an elaborate network of construction scaffolding that is itself rather attractive. (An elevator is also available.)

Once inside, they will encounter Columbus”s commanding figure, wearing the usual floppy beret and High Renaissance garb, in a spacious interior larger than many New York apartments (over 800 square feet, with 16-foot ceilings). It is outfitted with hardwood floors, area rugs, cushy couches and armchairs, art reproductions, lots of reading material and a remote-free, 55-inch Samsung television screen. Most of this has been provided by Bloomingdale”s; all of it is bathed in natural light, thanks to four large windows facing in three directions. Continue reading “Tatzu Nishi’s Room With a View”

September 5, 2012December 15, 2023

3rd Annual RE/Mixed Media Festival, Brooklyn

Submitted by Tom Tenney, Director, RE/Mixed Media Festival:

EDITOR’S NOTE: The festival’s Kickstarter campaign needs to raise $1313 by Thursday at midnight! If it looks like something you’d like to help fund they’ll be eternally grateful. Watch the video below…

3rd Annual RE/Mixed Media Festival
November 10, 2012
Brooklyn Lyceum, Brooklyn NYC
www.remixedmedia.org
917-417-2932

A celebration of remix, mashup and creative appropriation in film, video, music, performance, technology and visual arts.

The RE/Mixed Media Festival, now in it’s 3rd year, is an annual celebration of collaborative art-making and creative appropriation. It’s the artists’ contribution to the ongoing conversation about remixing, mashups, copyright law, fair use, and the freedom of artists to access their culture in order to add to and build upon it.

The festival – which this year will take place at the Brooklyn Lyceum – a 3-floor 10,000 sq. ft. venue on the border of the Park Slope and Gowanus neighborhoods of Brooklyn – will feature performances, panel discussions, live musical collaborations, hip-hop, sampling, film & video, DIY, food and drink, DJs, technology, interactive installations, painting, sculpture, software, hacking, and much more!

Improv Everywhere: The Mp3 Experiment Nine

From Charlie Todd of Improv Everywhere

For our latest mission, over 4,000 people participated in an epic water gun battle as part of our ninth annual Mp3 Experiment event.

Participants downloaded an MP3 file and pressed play simultaneously on Governors Island in New York City. The MP3 file contained a series of ridiculous Olympic-themed instructions from narrator “Steve The Omnipotent Voice from Above” that culminated in a massive water gun fight.

We’d like to thank the River to River Festival for hosting the event and SkyCamUsa for helping us get aerial footage with their hexacopter drone.

View more video, photos and info here.

Improv Everywhere: Spinning Beach Ball of Death

From Charlie Todd of Improv Everywhere:

Spinning Beach Ball of Death

For our latest mission, a presenter at the TED conference has his talk interrupted by the Mac spinning wait cursor, commonly known as the “Spinning Beach Ball of Death.” As he stands awkwardly and waits, things get weird.

Enjoy the video first and then go behind the scenes with our report.

For the uninitiated, TED is an annual conference in Long Beach, California that focuses on “Ideas Worth Sharing.” I gave a talk at a TEDx event last year that was promoted to TED.com. For the conference this year, the TED curators approached me about staging something unexpected to surprise their audience. We had previously staged a musical prank at a conference, but I wanted to do something new and different for TED. I came up with the idea to have a fake speaker give a talk and make it seem like his big moment in the spotlight had been ruined by a computer crash. Apple users love to hate the notorious Spinning Beach Ball of Death. I started with that image and set out to heighten it to absurdity.

Produced by: Charlie Todd and Cody Lindquist; Shot & Edited by: TED; Starring: Eugene Cordero as Colin Robertson; Animation by: Bob Bonniol; Song by: Tyler Walker; Still Photos: James Duncan Davidson, Charlie Todd

Click here for more about Improv Everywhere.