Work of Art--Episodes 1 and 2

I've been bereft since the conclusions of the latest seasons of The Amazing Race and Project Runway as you can tell by the lack of blogs in recent weeks. So my curiosity was piqued when I read about Work of Art, the latest Runway variation from Bravo. The idea totally stunned me. I can see having a competition among fashion designers or cooks or interior decorators since you can pretty tell good from bad in those fields. But art is SOOOO subjective, how can one judge a painting, scultpure or print as so blah! someone should be eliminated. Also it seems ridiculous to crown a struggling artist as the next big thing since that is the judgment of the ages, not a panel of critics. Remember Van Gogh only sold one painting and that was to his brother. But this will give me a chance to play art critic. As one of the judges said in his blog (the art critic from New York magazine--interesting that they have an art critic, but no steady theatre critic, shows where their priorities are), he didn't have any art training, he was just making it up as he went along.

Given all these trepidations, the first episode was actually intriguing. The contestants were so different than the fashion people I was accustomed to. I don't want to sound dismissive of the Project Runway types, but these guys just seemed more complex and serious. Yet they fulfilled the by-now standard roles of these kinds of shows. Nao is the pretentious snob whom everyone finds obnoxious. Miles is the cute outsider. Erik is the rebel who argues with the judges. Jaclyn is the pretty girl out to prove herself. Trong is the above-it-all dead-pan insider who has already established his reputation and you wonder why he's even there. Judith is the irracisble older woman who is uncomfortable with being designated as the mother figure. And I have a feeling she is the type who would snap back "I've got problems of my own" at any of the younger artists who need a shoulder to cry on. The rest kind of blend together. As the weeks go on, we'll get to know them better.

The first challenge was to do a portrait of a fellow competitor. Miles' print of Nao was indeed fascinating. Her expression was ecstatic and I liked the dark splotches. On the other hand, Nao's abstract connect-the-dots chart was lazy. It could have been a portrait of a speck of dust or a fly in the studio flitting from place to place. You can be non-representational and still capture the subject's essence. Along the same lines, I would have maybe taken dozens of digital photos and cut them up and pasted them on the dots to represent Miles' hyperkinectic behavior. Or tried to do something with the exposure to make him look like he was in several places at once.

On the second episode, they had to take junk and make a sculpture of out it. I liked Nicole's TV set-tomb, especially the dirt in the picture tube. It reminded me of a real grave site with its gritty reality. I think she could have gone even further with more artifacts stuffed into the set's gaping maw. Miles' sleep-chamber altar was interesting and well-made but a tad forced. I thought Abdi's TV-head kid figure was the most captivating. Trong's piece was not the worst. I think they got rid of him because he was showing no emotion and boring the pants off of everyone with his finishing up quickly and not reacting to any criticism. Speaking of which, what was up with Miles and his nasty comment about Trong's three TVs? Miles definitely has behavior issues and needs a therapist. He was holding up his hand like a child in class needing to go to the bathroom. "Teacher, I think Trong's work is boring and I can make number one now?" (BTW, did you notice the gallery owner judge's intense sunburn? Was in Aspen over the weekend?)

Miles is a fascinating case and so are a lot of them. I found it really interesting that Erik said he was living with his parents and Miles had to sell his clothes to get by and now they are on national TV. What will happen to them once the show is over? Even if they win, that's no guarantee of any sort of income or opportunities to make a living from their art.

I actually am considering downloading episodes so I can take more time to look at the art. I can hardly wait to see the first team challenge.

Random TV Encounters--Porn Again

Earlier this year when I was staying at the Galt Hotel in Louisville during the Humana Festival of New Plays, I was relaxing in my room in between shows. I flipped through the channels which I love to do when I'm in cities I've never been--you get to see all the local news and how low-rent it usually is. I landed on MTV and the program was a reality thing called I'm Addicted to Porn. It was part of a whole series of I'm Addicted to.... They profiled a series of real people whose lives were seriously affected by their involvement with pornography. There was a guy whose wife left him because he couldn't stop watching it on his computer. They went to therapy. The usual story.

But the most interesting segment involved this young porn star. She was in Vegas for a porn convention and she was nominated for the industry equivalent of the Oscar for most promising newcomer or something. The awards were to be presented at the climax--pardon the pun--of the convention. She was shown surrounded by male fans on the convention floor, all clammering for her picture and autograph. She later said to the camera, "Wow, I feel really great, like I'm worth something." Then she received a visit from this group called the Pink Cross whose mission is to get people out of porn. The rescue workers were three women, looked in their 40s, all of whom were very attractive, but you could tell they'd had work done and when they were younger were probably stunning. Each wore an armband with a pink cross. Our girl listened to their spiel and wasn't buying it. They said "You're so smart and pretty, you don't need this. You are worth so much more than this." She thanked them and they left saying "Well, if you ever change your mind, give us a call." The actress turned to camera and said she was happy in her work.

Later just before the awards, she confessed that she wanted to win badly because maybe then her parents wouldn't be ashamed of her. One limo ride later, she loses the big award. Back in her suite with champagne, money, and a life of sex and adoration by horny pathetic guys, she's in tears.

Earlier in the week, I'd seen a play called Slasher about a young girl who gets cast in a sleazy horror film and she's in control and not exploited because she set the terms of the contract. There were eerie echoes of the play in this reality TV show.