We thought Jay Z’s 2013 “Picasso Baby” performance art stunt was pretty cool. If you recall, Jay camped out at New York City’s Pace Gallery and performed the song for six straight hours.
The whole thing was filmed and compiled into a music video for the song and featured cameos from a bunch of prominent figures in the art and entertainment world — including Marina Abramovi?. In fact, it was her “The Artist Is Present” work that inspired Jay Z’s entire concept.
In a new interview with Spike, Abramovi? says she feels ‘used’ by Jay and that he failed to deliver on numerous promises that were made in exchange for her involvement in the project.
via Pitchfork:
Abramovi? told Spike that she allowed Jay Z to adapt “The Artist Is Present” under the condition that he would help the Marina Abramovi? Institute, but he didn’t. “The day before, he came to my office and I gave him an entire power point presentation and said: okay, you can help me, because I really need help to build this thing,” she said. “Then he just completely used me. And that wasn’t fair.”
During the performance, the people in attendance were invited to dance with Jay Z, who rapped “Picasso Baby” directly to them. Abramovi? said participants were “totally used,” and “came out with nothing.” She also described it as a one-way transaction.
“I will never do it again, that I can say,” she said. “Never. I was really naive in this kind of world. It was really new to me, and I had no idea that this would happen. It’s so cruel, it’s incredible. I will stay away from it for sure.”
Yikes! Jay just can’t seem to catch a break these days…
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