> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Jay-Z Raps at Marina Abramović, or the Day Performance Art Died - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/jay-z-raps-at-marina-abramovic-or-the-day-performance-art-died/ - Published: 2013-07-10T21:21:22.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-24T16:18:02.000Z - Description: Last night, rumors started circulating about Jay-Z doing some kind of Rajnar-Kjartansson-meets-Marina Abramović performance art mashup, in which he would rap his new art-inspired song "Picasso Baby" at a rotating cast of hand-picked art-world individuals continuously for a few hours. - Author: Jillian Steinhauer - Tags: Opinion, Jay-Z, Marina Abramovic, Performance Art, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 06:59 (2012, 2013, part 2) ![Photo courtesy Adam Taye](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2013/07/corporate-rap.jpg) Photo courtesy Adam Taye Last night, rumors started circulating about Jay-Z doing some kind of Rajnar-Kjartansson-meets-Marina Abramović performance art mashup, in which he would rap his new [art-inspired](http://blogs.artinfo.com/artintheair/2013/07/05/jay-z-goes-nuts-with-the-art-references-in-picasso-baby/?ref=hyperallergic.com) song “Picasso Baby” at a rotating cast of hand-picked art-world individuals continuously for a few hours. It couldn’t *really* be true, could it? And yet, it was so ridiculous, it *had* to be true. And then it turned out that DJ Spooky had tweeted about it, and so it really *was* true. > I'm looking forward to the Jay Z video shoot I'm in for his song "Picasso Baby" at a certain gallery in NY. Should be interesting. [#newrules](https://twitter.com/hashtag/newrules?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hyperallergic.com) > > — Paul D. Miller (@djspooky) [July 9, 2013](https://twitter.com/djspooky/status/354720424308903936?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hyperallergic.com) Scarily true, it turns out. Because this afternoon, at Pace Gallery, this happened: Just when Kanye West thought he had monopolized the title of [art-world rapper](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/kanye-west-previews-yeezus-at-568350?ref=hyperallergic.com), Jay-Z goes and throws down. With Marina Abramović, no less! Yesterday gallerist Stephanie Theodore jokingly suggested [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/TheodoreArt/status/354670566051020801?ref=hyperallergic.com) that Ai Weiwei divorce his wife and marry Marina in the interest of forming a mega-cult (although, let’s be real, having a wife has not stopped Ai from [seeing other women](https://hyperallergic.com/ai-weiwei-never-retreat-retweet/)). But now it looks like maybe the optimal mega-cult would be something entirely different. Could Marina, Jay-Z, and James Franco form a celebrity performance art trinity? Visitors to the planned [Marina Abramović Institute for the Preservation of Performance Art](http://hyperallergic.com/tag/marina-abramovic-institute-for-the-preservation-of-performance-art/) could be indoctrinated in the new religion’s ways. And speaking of the institute, I can’t help but think back to Hyperallergic Weekend editor Tom Micchelli’s [take on it](https://hyperallergic.com/the-end-of-performance-art-as-we-know-it/). His words seem particularly apt right now, even if he was talking about the museum to come and not about Marinay-Z (not great, I know; I’m working on it): > Once upon a time, Performance Art was synonymous with shock and danger. In contrast, the control, pedagogy and research embedded in those contracts and white lab coats come off as, to say the least, the tools of predictability. > > By creating a safe environment for a notoriously unsafe art (whose perilous reputation is due in no small part to Abramović herself), these measures seem designed to clamp down on the raging id of Performance Art like an equally monstrous superego. Safe environment and monstrous superegos, indeed. That’s probably why most of the reactions I’ve seen range from unenthusiastic to apocalyptic. > I really can't move on from this Jay-Z / Marina Abramovic thing. Maybe I should just go home for the day. > > — Anjali Khosla (@hellomountfuji) [July 10, 2013](https://twitter.com/hellomountfuji/status/355056545471545344?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hyperallergic.com) > $$$$$$$$$$ [@zoeschlanger](https://twitter.com/zoeschlanger?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hyperallergic.com) Can't stop watching this vine of Jay-Z and Marina Abramovic dancing together [https://t.co/imtk7kEPzR](https://t.co/imtk7kEPzR?ref=hyperallergic.com) > > — Azeen Ghorayshi (@azeen) [July 10, 2013](https://twitter.com/azeen/status/355071681376694273?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hyperallergic.com) > I love the way Jay-Z stood near Marina and moved a little bit. Art!! > > — Kevin (@KevinBuist) [July 10, 2013](https://twitter.com/KevinBuist/status/355070133795962880?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hyperallergic.com) > culture is over. RT [@kyle\_petreycik](https://twitter.com/kyle%5Fpetreycik?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hyperallergic.com) Okay, we all stop using Vine now… [https://t.co/fKlBjSRIkZ](https://t.co/fKlBjSRIkZ?ref=hyperallergic.com) > > — THEODORE (@TheodoreArt) [July 10, 2013](https://twitter.com/TheodoreArt/status/355050402489700352?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hyperallergic.com) > OK the video in Infinite Jest that entertains you to death has finally come and it is the Vine of Jay-Z & Marina Abramović, R.I.P. US ALL. > > — Lindsay Zoladz (@lindsayzoladz) [July 10, 2013](https://twitter.com/lindsayzoladz/status/355067643650256896?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hyperallergic.com) > The dream finale would be for James and Tilda to join the rapping. Performance art has died today. Bye > > — magdasawon (@magdasawon) [July 10, 2013](https://twitter.com/magdasawon/status/355053755168866305?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref=hyperallergic.com) In case you remain unconvinced, here’s a picture of RoseLee Goldberg, founder of [Performa](http://performa-arts.org/?ref=hyperallergic.com), dancing with Jay-Z, too: ![(via LiaChavez on Instagram)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2013/07/roselee-jayz.png) (via liachavez on Instagram) You know what, though? Maybe we shouldn’t be so hopeless. Maybe performance art hasn’t died — it’s just [moved to Brooklyn](https://hyperallergic.com/images-from-the-first-week-of-the-brooklyn-intl-performance-art-festival/).