Work of Art
 

I watched this show last night which is a sort of Project Runway for artists. On one level it seems wrong, but then again, the show does sort of challenge many preconceptions about art and artists. I'm curious to see how it plays out, what kind of "challenges" are dreamed up, and what art interests the critics, and the public - as well as how the artists might play with their manufactured celebrity.

I think Andy Warhol would be proud

Oh did that start already? I only saw one ad for it, was skeptical, but once I heard that it's the same producers as Top Chef and Project Runway I got intrigued. Might tune in.

Caught episode 2. We really liked it. We've now got a season pass.

We're really enjoying this show. I feel inspired to start a new Open Mic challenge, which I'll post in a bit.

I was most amused by the "shocking" art challenge. I love how they have to delete the word sh*t but can talk about sucking oneself off, or masturbating on a drawing. Also amused that they couldn't show a simple line drawing of a penis but detailed and abstract anuses are okay.

I'm amuse by the girl who continually talks about how shy she is and uncomfortable with the attention people pay her because she's attractive...but wears nothing but the most cleavagy of cleavage shirts and all of her art is about her being naked and having people stare at her. The thing is, I tend to like her finished product, but her process and false modesty are tiresome.

Regarding the "sucking oneself off" piece, I thought it was better than the judges did, but then I looked up the unedited version online. Once I saw the complete lack of design in the genitals, I realized how bad it really was.

At first I hated Miles but now I love him. He's the tortured artist that a show like this needs. Whether his issues are "all in his head" or are true mental problems doesn't really matter. When it comes to the work, he knows what he wants to express, he works concisely to get there, and the result is original and interesting. While abstract and malleable enough to allow different interpretation, he still gets his point across every time, to everyone. Extremely impressive, week after week.

Yeah, I'm having issue with "the body". She's got a great body and shows off every curve, takes alluring pictures of herself and claims to be modest. Right. Me thinks she protests too much. I have likes her work so far, but I think I would like it better if I didn't "know" her.

Miles is VERY good. He's got a strong persona as well, but it doesn't get in the way of his work - it only seems to enhance it.

I wonder how much of my feelings about these two artists has to do with own feeling and perceptions as a woman.

What I've loved so far about this show is that none of the critique has been "it's ugly". It's all about, "This fails to either convey the message you intended, or you failed to develop your idea beyond some simple notion into something actually meaningful."

It's easy to look at art that is of an aesthetic you don't appreciate and dismiss it. What the show has done a great job of so far is to really show the difference between art that has a strong sense of idea, message, and purpose, vs. art that's just slapped together without vision. For the most part that distinction been pretty clear through the processes of each artist and through the final pieces. Great job.

I totally agree, GD. The critiques have been a favorite part of the show.