COMVIDEO at apexart

"Commercials are one of the most interesting love children of capitalism and ego, trying to seduce the viewer with a trite marketing equation, formulated to have money ejaculate from your less than aroused pocket."

Last night I went to the opening of COMVIDEO at apexart, and took a stance in front on one of the small fuzzy TVs to see what inventive interactions people could come up with when challenged to interact with a commercial. It was a lot of fun, and the results were as varied as you might expect--all challenging, provocative, and sometimes pretty damn funny.

Costume Party's Over, ID #80

However, it was entirely unnecessary. All 124 60-second video manipulations of broadcast commercials are also available online, and open to a popular vote through January 15. The top video gets $2,000, and the top five videos will be shown on a public screen in Manhattan.

Some of my favorites:

• ID# 47
  mcfat 
• ID# 98
  Kitty Litter Revolution 
• ID# 101
  What Should Tiger Do?  
• ID# 109
  The Starburst Shuffle

But here is my plan for world domination: what if we could hack the TV networks and play these commericals instead of the real ones? And while we are at put the staff of The Onion in charge of news broadcasting for a day? Now that's an intervention that would kep me glued to the screen.