Did you see last night's
"Work of Art"? The contestants were confronted with a warehouse full of discarded electronics, and then told to make it into art. Oh, I thought I'd die laughing. The typical response to the challenge:
You might've noticed that many of the artists work 2D, not 3D. They're photographers, realist painters, silkscreen printers. Most have little or no assemblage experience, and it really showed.
Designated Hotness actually said, "Omigod, I don't know what I'm doing."
Hotness wanted to make a tank to fill with water and an empty TV. Except she had
no clue whatsoever about adhesives. (Not even how to get a clump of adhesive out of her hair.) So she whines for help, and
Starvingartist takes time away from his piece to help her make hers. Lots of caulk jokes follow.
The only "mixed-media artist," the
Gray Panther, couldn't pull her piece together either.
She chose lots of cables, rather than TV monitors like many others had; not following the pack, but not blazing a trail either.
Hilary Swank's Double, on the other hand, was KILLIN' the challenge!
HSD created sort of an archaelogical/geological chasm inside an old-style TV turned on its side. And
Cartoony Boy went back to his roots as a child video game addict for this piece.
The joystick plugs into the statue's navel like an umbilical cord. And don't you love how it somehow
doesn't tip over? Even more awesome, because he had to rework the design from two kids to one, and bulk up the frame with paper and painter's tape under the plaster strips.
But it was
Tortured Artist who took the win.
The unfamiliar environment has his OCD working overtime -- can't get any rest. So he silkscreened and created a large pillow, which he placed on top of a makeshift bed. (Don't even ask about the pillows on each side.) The idea was to create the world's least restful spot to sleep. The clincher:
Tortured "activated" his piece by shutting out the sensory overload:
He took a nap on the bed during the gallery showing.
And guess who went home?
The Hipster. Don't cry for him: his career is already so established that many of the contestants had heard of him before they met him. This was all about exposure for him. So I'm sure he and too-cool-for-the-room haircut will be just fine.
Most of the other artists went home without comment, which must've saved some of them last night. Sometimes in these competitions, it's enough to stay just above the worst contestant. What did you think?
9 comments:
No mention of OCD boy raising his hand and then trashing Hipster Joe?
I would have, but the post was getting too long. I seriously thought that unsolicited comment was going to count against him!
I also wanted to talk about Starvingartist and his "trust me, it's Art" piece (of crap). Spend all that time helping Designated Hotness and you don't have any time to make anything yourself!
I'm sorry, but sleeping in the gallery doesn't qualify as "art" in my book (though I've wanted to do that in many a show I've seen in a gallery). I thought "Cartoon Boy's" creation was the best, given his difficulties at the start, and the autobiographical nature of the piece. But then, what do I know? I'm just an artist. (said with tongue firmly implanted in cheek) I'm still on the fence about this show; I can't decide whether it's a good idea badly executed or just a bad idea all around.
woots! nice blog yo! :D
@Michelle: I so agree with you about Cartoony Boy's piece. Really loved it.
I get the performance art aspect of Tortured's work, but I think he won because the judges think he fits the popular image of an artist. As much talent as angst.
When he mouthed off about the other person's piece, I knew who he was: the guy who's cruel because he thinks everyone is going to be cruel to him. But I swear, if he keeps on hunching over like someone's going to kick him, *I'm* going to kick him.
@Suet Keit: Thanks, yo! Hurray for my friend in Malaysia! :oD
So, yeah, I'm beginning to see in this show what's wrong with all the other "best of" shows....they take these people who are probably pretty darn talented in their own ways - and I'm now comparing this to "American Idiot" - I mean "Idol" and even my favorite show in the whole world, "So You Think You Can Dance" - and then they make them compete in doing things they're NOT good at, so that gradually they bleed all the individuality out of them, and the winner is the one who can do everything well. But...but...why do we need that? There's room in the world for each of us to be outstanding in our field, isn't there? Huh?
But then I guess there wouldn't be any show. Sigh.
@Laurel: Yeah, the thing I hate the most about the reality competitions is that the whole purpose is to cut them down to size.
You know what I bet they're going to start doing in the next ep? Adding another requirement in midstream that forces the contestants to redo everything. Like in the cooking shows, where people fry something and then find out there's some change in plan that ensures the food won't be served for another half-hour. So a great product becomes a piece of crap because of some arbitrary change.
Yeah, they do that in Project Runway all the time - "okay, you've made one fabulous gown in 20 minutes with $2 worth of vegetables - now make matching underwear with these trash bags!"
(giggles.) Made myself laugh with that one.
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