From 'NY Times' To MTV?

By: Wayne Robins Alanis Morissette may have found her new rock video through The New York Times.

This odd bit of synergy had its genesis in the semi-glossy pages of the May 12 edition of the Sunday New York Times Magazine. Morissette, whose earnest yet edgy musical search for identity has made her immensely popular, posed for a five-page fashion sequence in which photographer/illustrator Michael Elins placed the thinking person's rock star in settings that pay homage to modern artists including Frida Kahlo, Ed Ruscka, and Marcel Duchamp. (In the latter, Morissette is Duchamp's famously-mustached Mona Lisa).

Before you can say "Adobe Photoshop, Adobe LiveMotion, and Adobe After Affects," Elins created a "morphing" video that appears on the Times' (registration required) Web site (http://www.nytimes.com/magazine).

You could conceivably buy the outfit she's wearing in the Mona Lisa shot, Tom Ford's silk muslin embroidered caftan, for $16,195 at Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, while Chloe's white polyester mesh top with macrame beading featured in the Kahlo homage will set you back a mere $1,075 at Chloe's boutique on Madison Avenue or Saks Fifth Avenue.

With the cooperation of Morissette's label, Maverick, Elins transformed the morphed sequence into an "alternative video" for the singer's current hit, "Precious Illusions." The Times Magazine does not get co-production credit, however.

"The New York Times received certain publishing rights to use the Michael Elin's images in The New York Times Magazine and on NYTimes.com," said Times spokeswoman Christine Mohan. "The copyright resides with the photographer so he can repurpose the photographs in whatever medium he wishes to."

Since there already is a video for "Precious Illusions," the Elins edition will be seen as an "online exclusive," before morphing into other mediums.

Both Morissette and her manager were on vacation and couldn't be reached to elaborate, said her spokesman Mitch Schneider.