Inspired by famed performance artist Marina Abramovic, directed by Mark Romanek and an event coordinated through social media…you gotta hand it to Shawn Carter, he knows how to do it right. And the result is “Picasso Baby,” the first promo/video/short film from his summer banger Magna Carta Holy Grail. And if you missed the premiere broadcast on HBO last night, not to worry, as it’s now online for you to check out. So what’s it like?
“It’s kind of an endlessly inventing, surprising thing. It’s a tsunami of joy,” Romanek told us about the project. “Everyone is having such a good time, Jay is having such a good time. Some people came and sat and absorbed the experience. Other people felt the need to perform or collaborate or come up with some sort of gag. There’s no one encounter that is similar to another. It’s a whole range of surprises. We had 30 hours of film, because we had 8 cameras going.”
In case you’re still playing catchup, last month Jay Z hit Pace Gallery in New York City for an event called “Picasso Baby,” though not many details were given beforehand. What it turned out to be was Jigga performing the song for six hours straight for groups of different people, something inspired by Abramovic’s epic “The Artist Is Present,” which rocked NYC in 2010. You can see how it all turns out below. Keep your eyes peeled for celebrity guests like Judd Apatow, Jim Jarmusch, Michael K. Williams, Adam Driver and Jemima Kirke. [Billboard]