"Ice, ice, baby... too cold, too cold... " So the infamous lyrics by Vanilla Ice go. But Rob Van Winkle wouldn't have been able to have anything on you if you had been in San Jose from August 7th - 13th. Karaoke Ice a project by Nancy Nowacek, Katie Salen and Marina Zurkow features a souped up ice cream truck replete with screaming day glo colors, microphones, speakers, otter pops, and a dancing squirrel. Throughout the ISEA 2006 festival Karaoke Ice roamed the streets of San Jose, enticing ordinary people to join in the fun of public street-side Karaoke. Participants were invited to sing along for the crowd and follow the bizarre rituals of Remedios, the dancing squirrel (which was really just a guy dressed up in a squirrel helmet and tail, but he looked cool.) While not everyone had the courage to engage in inpromptu performance, many got a great kick out of the unexpected spectator opportunity. In an artful maneuver positioned between low art and entertainment, Karaoke Ice was not cold at all. In fact, it was smokin' hot.

(Above is a picture of the truck parking next to the SRL performance that night, providing some pre-show entertainment for those waiting to line up.)