I have a history of doing some pretty elaborate parties, so this idea seems totally doable to me, if you've got the time and funds. If you can afford a few flat screen TVs, some custom frames and some production time for your content, I think it's an interesting idea. Get big, ornate gold-leafed frames with heavy edges made to fit the TVs, and try to avoid having to cut into your walls. When you're done with the party, the TVs will still be useable if you pull them out of the frames (obviously the frames can be used for something else, too)... I worked on a few "living one sheets" for a design agency that were sort of like this. Vertical format... they were supposed to look like regular backlit movie posters on display in malls, etc..., but if you look at it for a while you realize that the people posing in the image are actually breathing and blinking their eyes.... Then they move very subtly... I did one for LOST that looked like a regular display ad, but every minute or so the Ajira jet would fly over them. I like the idea of trying to make an image look like a "still" image for long stretches of time. Someone sitting at a table, smiling, portrait-style, but breathing and blinking... and maybe every few minutes they make a tiny move - look around the room, change poses slightly... and then after a long time they might stand up and walk out of frame for a second or two (This could be where you loop your footage). The longer you make your loop the more interesting it will be, because people would never know what to expect. If you have the patience to shoot an hour (you probably have the disk space, even for high def footage) it would be great because it would give the painting a really "live" feel. Adjusting things like contrast, levels and color will go a long way towards making it look as much like a painting as possible. You might also consider using some post production trickery to give your footage a partial sepia tone, and even a canvas texture. Save your TV screen by putting any aging or weathering on the footage itself. Run your loop as a full-frame Quicktime from a laptop, and you can just set it and forget it for the duration of your party. It's definitely a somewhat expensive idea, but if you do it right, it could be a pretty impressive display if you had a few of them running.