Pippin Barr made something of a name for himself back in 2011 with The Artist Is Present, an interactive simulation that let players stand in a virtual line at the virtual MoMA waiting to see the performance artist extraordinaire Marina Abramovic in a digitized version of her real-life performance art exhibit of the same name. (You could only stand in the line between the real MoMA’s hours of operation, making this not-quite-a-game a very curious interactive experience.)
Now Barr and Abramovic are at it again with the Digital Marina Abramovic Institute, which lets users (I’d hesitate to call them players) participate in an hour-long set of experimental experiences Abramovic herself crafted, as well as observing the work of other performances artists (as approximated by Barr’s early Sierra Online point-and-click aesthetic).
The digital MAI is something of a virtual counterpart that the artist herself is attempting to get off the ground in order to teach aspiring artists her unique durational artistic method. (The real project, set in New York City, is striving towards a goal of $20 million by 2015 for renovation, class programming and operations – it reached a $660,000 goal on Kickstarter earlier this year.)
Awareness aside, DMAI is probably not like anything you’ve ever played. Abramovic’s polarizing work is certainly no stranger to divisive reaction [Super NSFW!], but she remains endlessly fascinating nonetheless (or more likely because of). Come up with your own opinion of the Digital Marina Abramovic Institute here.
Via Joystiq
