Art Game: Pippin Barr's "Zorba" (2011)

After "The Artist Is Present" - a videogame about the recent Marina Abramovic's performance at the Museum of Modern Art in New York - Pippin Barr has created a new interactive experience that brings Zorba to a whole new level. In the game, the player can emulate Anthony Quinn in the eponymous film. On his blog, Barr explained the genesis of the game:

"In terms of its “creation myth”, the game came up because Rilla and I were in Venice for the Venice Biennale, cultured souls that we are. We were walking through the Piazza San Marco and, as there usually are, there were bands playing in a couple of the (crazy expensive) restaurants. A huge number of tourists were grouped around one particular band, which started to play the song from Zorba the Greek as we passed. Naturally, no one can resist listening to that song once it gets going, because it’s pretty addictive stuff." (Pippin Barr)

In terms of gameplay, the game features two core elements: "The mechanical part [is] about fairness and the notion of computer skill, and the aesthetic part [is] about a kind of reappropriation and negation of the aesthetics of the movie" (Pippin Barr).

Here's the orginal dance scene from Zorba the Greek (1964):

Link: Pippin Barr's Zorba

related: Pippin Barr's "The Artist is Persent" (2011)

Submitted by Mathias Jansson