Art Attack: Icons in the Making

Here in 2010, it's quite a simple matter to look back at the age of old and identify icons of style, screen and beyond. It's much muddier when you try to define what's special about now, though... don't you find? Yes of course, no one would argue the impact on mainstream culture of the likes of Lady Gaga, Facebook and so on, but do you really think of them in the same light as Marilyn Monroe, or the invention of Pop Art? It always seems so much cooler and more monumental in hindsight.

In an attempt to draw a kind of parallel between the icons (or those in the making) of yesterday and today, the New York Times just put out, 14 Actors Acting, an amazing series of actors acting out iconic silver screen stereotypes. The hit man (Jesse Eisenberg), the aging mob boss (Michael Douglas) and the emotional crack(ing) up (Tilda Swinton) are all addressed as well as some of my favourites from Noomi Rapace, James Franco, Jennifer Lawrence, Vincent Cassel and Natalie Portman below: