Karaoke Culture on the MFA Lawn
Like Madonna, you too can have one name
If your go-to karaoke song is Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” brace yourself for something different.
The Museum of Fine Arts invites the public to its front lawn tonight for an outdoor karaoke party. But forget Tina Turner; the song you’ll be performing is Madonna’s cult classic “Vogue,” in honor of the Boston debut of the video montage Queen (A Portrait of Madonna) at the MFA.
Video artist Candice Breitz created Queen by building a grid of 30 video images of fans performing “Vogue,” each shot from the shoulders up on a simple background. The notion is akin to an amazing version of “Stand by Me,” the first of many “songs around the world” created for the documentary Playing for Change: Peace Through Music. But the technique is more reminiscent of the opening credits in the TV sit-com The Brady Brunch from the late ’60s and early ’70s. Breitz’s video montage, which runs 73 minutes, is meant to show how fans relate to pop stars.
Queen will be projected on the front of the MFA building, which will help conjure the lyrics, replete with famous names — Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, and Fred Astaire, to name three.
The MFA, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston, is open until 9:45 p.m. Thursday, July 9. The karaoke event is from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and is free. The event is part of the exhibition Seeing Songs, which runs through February 21, 2010.
Amy Laskowski can be reached at amlaskow@bu.edu.
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